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59^ 



CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES. 



ARRANGED 



CVi-1 



lalfs ott §(m's |rmtip{L 



BY 



ELIZABETH P. PEABODY. 



NEW YORK: 
SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & COMPANY, 

115 NASSAU STREET. 

1856. 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S5G, by 

ELIZABETH P. PEABODY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 



E. O. JENKINS, 

xhxttX Ellb ^t-Cl'£0tgp£tt 
No. 26 Feankfoet Street. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Preface to Teacher, - - 

" •' Students, - - - - . 

Explanation of the Plates, - - . 
Table of Sixteenth Century, 
Spanish Adventurers, . . . . 
French Adventurers, - - - . ^ 
English Adventurers, - . . . 
Table of Seventeenth Century, 
Observations on the Method, ... 
Geography of the Indian Tribes, - 
Colonization of Yirginia, - - - . 

« " New Netherlands, 

" " New Sweden, - - - 

" " New York, - . . . 

" " Massachusetts, 

" " New Hampshire and Maine, 

" " Maryland, 

" " Connecticut, 

" " Rhode Island, - - - 

" •' the Carolinas, 

" " New Jersey, ... 

u " Pennsylvania and Delaware, 

French Settlements and Wars, 
Table of Seventeenth Century, 
Colonization of Georgia, .... 



PAGE 

5 

6 

9 

13 

15 
19 
21 

26 

27 

29 

32 

54 

57 

60 

63 

80 

82 

88 

95 

101 

106 

108 

117 

120 

124 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Fi-encli and Indian Wars of the Eighteenth Centuiy, - - - 132 

" Old French War," 138 

Pontiac's Conspiracy, 1^'^ 

War of American Eevokition, ^^^ 

Formation of Federal Union, - - ^^^ 

History of the Union, - -391 

Washington's Administration, 1^*^ 

John Adams' " 198 

Jefferson's " ...---- 202 

Madison's " (War), 2G8 

Monroe's " 227 

John Q. Adam's " - - 233 

Jackson's " (Florida War), . - - - 239 

Van Bm-en's " -...----- 282 

Harrison's " - . . - - - 285 

Tyler's " (Texas), 285 

Polk's " (Mexican War), - - - 292 

Taylor's " (California), - - - - 307 

Table of Eighteenth Century, . . - - - 308 

Final Eeview, --311 

Notes on Universal History, . _ . . - 312 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



U::^ITEX) STA.TES 



TO THE TEACHER. 

The events that make up the history of the United States 
have their causal roots in all the ages of time previous to its 
commencement. This history is the flower of the ages that 
have gone before. Hence it is impossible to give it ade- 
quately as a fragment, and to those who do not know pre- 
vious history. The nature of its events also makes it a difficult 
acquirement for children, undisciplined in the art of inferring 
causes ; and the events themselves have little of the pictur- 
esque for the imagination of youth, though rich in interest for 
the matured mind. 

But it is this fragment of the great narrative of time, for 
which alone there has been made any provision by law, in 
much of the common school teaching of the United States ; 
and therefore a section of Bem's Chart of Universal History 
has been modified to meet the case. A chronological outline 
of the chain of events may certainly be impressed on the 
mind, by means of that natural memorizer, the, sense of sights 
addressed hy these colored symhols, before historical causes can 
be appreciated ; and chronology is the relation of paramount 
importance in history, because, including synchronism, it holds 
in its arms, as it were, all other relations. In the accom- 
panying maps of the last four centuries of time, nothing is 
represented in colors but what pertains to that territory which 
now bears the name of the United States. But in the empty 



6 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

squares, the student who pleases, can indicate with a pen syn- 
chronistic European events, which will inevitably suggest 
how much the contemporary events need to he known, in 
order to see all the bearings of American history. To study 
the American history, with these colored symbols, will lead 
directly therefore to the study of Universal history, with the 
same valuable help ; and thus the charts of the Universal 
History, on the same plan, with the explanatory manual, will 
be demanded by the mind of the student. 

The teacher will observe to the student, that though our 
colored representations begin with the sixteenth century, 
when most of the explorations of the United States coast were 
made, as well as the only permanent settlement at St. Augus- 
tine, Florida, yet that it was in the last decade of the fifteenth 
century, that the New World was discovered by Columbus ; 
and that as early as 1497, the Cabots began their voyages 
in the service of the English. It would be well also, to add 
a little introductory discourse, somewhat like the following, 
which, if the teacher has not time to communicate orally, can 
be put into the pupils' hands to be read and even studied. A 
great deal is gained, with respect to any study, if the student 
clearly understands beforehand, the general scope of the sci- 
ence upon which he is going to enter, and its relations to his 
general culture. 

TO STUDENTS IN HISTORY, 

HOWEVER YOUNG THEY MAY BE. 

You are about to study a series of events which are now 
going on — a part of which you are — and whose future you 
are to help bring about. For the first time in the recorded 
history of mankind, there is a nation whose government 
directly depends upon the mass of the people, every individ- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 

ual of wliom becomes a creator of its events, in precise ratio 
witli his personal energy ; and even tliose wlio have no en- 
ergy cannot avoid having an influence, by hanging as a dead 
weight upon the wheels of Progress. 

There is nothing therefore which can be studied, of more 
immediate and practical value to Americans, than history ; 
showing, as it does, the origin and consequences of national 
action, and instructing every one what to do and what to 
leave undone, in his own inevitable action, as citizen, legis- 
lator, executive officer, or voter, one of which every American 
must necessarily be. Because God wills that no good should 
come to human society, except through the action of men and 
women, whom He is always ready to inspire with love and 
wisdom 5 He gives to every one, besides reason and affection, 
the memory of past experience in history ; and to Americans, 
at least, the opportunity of making new experiments in the 
light of truth. 

But in vain has He given the past and the future to us 
unless we are awake to accept and appreciate His gifts. The 
old world is covered with bad institutions which men have 
created, very often with positively good intentions, but ou 
false notions, or, at least, without large and profound ideas. 
These institutions have done infinite mischiefs, and are per- 
petuated and reproduced by the activity of the wicked and 
the passivity of the good. Whether the new world shall esti- 
mate and sift out these evils, or repeat these mistakes, de- 
pends on young Americans, who are now sitting in school- 
rooms all over the country, unconscious of their powers and 
consequent responsibilities. Shall they not be awakened to 
this consciousness, and begin to form their principles on eter- 
nal laws of justice and love, while they are yet unsolicited 
by party interests ] 

Republicanism is the government which is instituted for the 



8 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

welfare of the mass of a people, rather than for the advantage 
of a few ambitions rnlers. Its characteristic is, that the 
sovereignty rests in the electing many, and that the officers 
of government are responsible to the electors. 

The first republic was the Hebrew, whose recorded history 
stretches over two thousand j^ears, from Abraham to Nehemiah ; 
and what is remarkable, it is the only contemporary history 
which has survived of those times ; though the little free 
nation was surrounded by vast and rich empires, in which 
the arts and sciences and political power were on a mag- 
nificient scale. Who but the free may develope the historical 
genius, or have any use for history ? Herodotus was contem- 
porary with Nehemiah, and began two hundred years of first 
rate contemporary history of the E-epublics of Greece. As 
these declined, Rome arose, and spread through the world 
an Empire, which still retained the form of Republicanism, 
after it lost the spirit ; so that JEmj>e?-or is now a more ex- 
pressive name for Despot, than even King. But when the 
form at last broke to pieces, in the fifth century after Christ, 
there arose Slavonian Republics, that lived some centuries to 
represent the principle, but which sank in the 8th century, by 
means chiefly of the ecclesiastical principle, into despotic mo- 
narchies ; though Poland never quite lost the republican, 
spirit, but blazed out with its Copernicus and others, into 
very beautiful civilization, in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
turies. In the ninth century, the Icelandic Republic grew up, 
and saved the light of civilization for a season ; and in the 
eleventh century the Italian and Flemish Republics were de- 
veloped, and flourished five hundred years. The league of 
Cambray, to destroy Venice, gave the death blow to Italian 
Republicanism, and initiated the modern diplomacy. All the 
northern invaders of Rome had republican principles and 
elected kings, at the time they came upon Rome ; and hence 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 

resulted the European constitutional monarcliies. But all 
these governments, as well as the Republics proper, fell, in 
the 16th century, into or under absolutism; except that the 
Helvetic Republics maintained themselves against the House 
of Austria from the 14th century, and the United Provinces of 
Holland from the 16th century. E-epublicanism was also de- 
veloped in England for a season, in the 17th century; but 
generally speaking, it may be said to have emigrated to 
America, from England, Holland, France and Germany. We 
must omit for the present all the old history of Republicanism 
and speak of it only as it has appe-ared in our own country, 
in the 18th and 19th centuries. Now we will explain the 
symbolization of the Chronology of the events we are to 
study, made by 

THE PAINTED CENTUEIES. 

Look at the plate of the 16th century. You observe a 
large square, divided into a hundred smaller squares. These 
smaller squares represent the years. The year-squares are 
subdivided into nine parts, and these subdivisions classify the 
events that are represented in the year-squares. 

Now, begin at the upper left hand, and count the horizontal 
row of year-squares, from left to right ; 1501, 1502, 1503, 
1504, 1505, 1506, 1507, 1508, 1509, 1510. This is the first 
^ decade of the century. Every row is ten years or a decade; 
the second is read 1511, 1512, 1513, 1514, 1515, 1516, &c. 
"When you have counted five decades (to 1550) you will ob- 
serve a broader. line divides the first half from the rest of the 
century; and you will observe that a vertical line of the same 
breadth divides every decade into two parts. These broad 
lines are landmarks for the eye, helping it to see quickly 
what year it is ; for the eye can appreciate the division into 



10 



CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 



five parts as easily as into two. (Tliis help to tlie eye be- 
comes quite important, when using Bern's Charts of Universal 
History ; where 2500 years are represented to the eye at 
once. But the centuries are easily appreciated, because they 
are arranged into a block, five square ; and these broad divi- 
sion lines, in the centuries themselves, make it possible for 
even a little child, after a little exercise, to name the year at 
which the teacher points.) The events are represented in 
colors ; a brick-red for Spain ; blue for France ; 23urple for 
England ; bluish-green for SM^eden ; yellowish-green for Hol- 
land ; and the orange color represents Americans, whether 
aboriginals, or citizens of the United States. The nine sub- 
divisions classify events thus : 



Battles, Sieges, 
Beginnings of War. 


Conquests, 
Annexations, Unions. 


Losses and 
Disasters. 


Falls of States. 


Foundations of 
States and Revolutions. 


Treaties and 
Sundries, 


Births, 


Deeds, 


Deaths, of remark- 
able individuals. 



When colors slant to each other, the -nations concur in 
events. When several disconnected events are represented 
in one square, they are painted in parallelograms. Epochal 
events fill the whole square to the neglect of the subdivisions. 

You will become acquainted with this symbolization, by 
learning how each event is represented; and as you learn all 
about the events, in the chapters that describe their relation in 
the narrative, you will find that the picture becomes fixed in 
your memory. It is easier to remember the relative locality of 
the representation, than to remember the figures of the dates ; 
while, if you understand the plan, any locality can be turned 
into the figures, by a moment's thought, whenever you need 
them. All dsites are not represented; but if you have the 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 

da'.es liere represented perfectly by heart, events are so con- 
nected in tlie narrative of history, that you can easily place 
any one, by the exercise of your imaginative memory, in its 
locality, and see its general chronological relation. So all 
places are not put upon geographical maps, but if you know 
a neighboring place to any particular place, you can see with 
your mind's eye, its relative position. The best Chronologi- 
cal Chart, is, like the best school map, not one where every 
item is represented; but Avhere enough is represented to sug- 
gest where everything else should come. 

Now learn the answers to the following q^uestions, which 
will make your own the explanations that have been given : 



LESSON L* 

Why is history especially important in the education of 
Americans? (See Address to the Student). Did the bad in- 
stitutions of the Old World arise out of man's malignity, or 
how? On whom depends it, whether, the New World shall 
re-organise the bad institutions of the Old World ? What 
great opportunity does the New World afford to man ? What 
is a Republican Government ? What was the first E-epublic 
of which we have recorded history ? Is there any contempo- 
rary history of the great Despotisms during those 2000 years? 
What history of E/Cpublicanism succeeds the Hebrew for 200 
years ? What E-epublic grew, as Greece declined ? Did this 
preserve the spirit of Kepublicanism ? When did the form 
break in pieces ? What Republics succeeded ? How long 
was it before they sank into despotic monarchies ? Did Po- 
land wholly lose its republican spirit ? When did the Icelandic 
Republic grow up ? When did the Flemish and Italian Re- 

* This Lesson can be omitted at the discretion of the teacher. 



12 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTOKY 

publics begin tlieir 500 years of prosperity 1 What event, by 
ruining Venice, gave tlie deatli-blow to Italian freedom? 
What was tlie origin of tlie constitutional monarcliies of 
Europe 1 When did these, and the Republics proper, fall into 
or under absolutism'? A¥here and how did Eepublicanism 
manifest itself in Europe in the 17th century 1 Where in the 
18th century? 

If the teacher happens to have the Charts of Universal 
History, he can point out with his stick, the range of the Ee- 
publics through the centuries. He should also ask the stu- 
dents the following (][uestions upon the painted centuries : 

LESSON II. 

How is a century represented 1 Why is it divided into a 
hundred parts ? How many rows of squares are there ? above 
the broad line 1 below 1 How many years are represented in 
a row 1 What is a decade ? What is the use of the broad 
horizontal line under the fifth row ? What year is the 5th 
square on the 5th row ? What year, the 5th on the 6th row ? 
In which row is 62 1 Do the numbers on each column all end 
with the same figure 1 With what figure do the numbers on 
the eighth column end ? What is the use of the broad verti- 
cal line ? On which side of it is 351 751 95 1 On which side 
is 47 ? 77 ? S7 1 What nation does orange represent 1 blue ? 
purple? How is Spain represented? Sweden? the Dutch? 
Why is the whole year-square sometimes painted, to the ne- 
glect of the subdivison ? Why do the colors sometimes slant ? 
When do you paint in parallelograms ? What is represented 
in the 8th subdivision ? the 7th ? the 9th ? What in the 1st ? 
2nd? 3rd? What in the 5th? What in the 4th? the 6th? 
Which year is the century named from ? 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OP THE SIXTEENTH CENTUEY. 

PLATE I. 

1501. Henry VII. grants patent for colonizing America. To 
represent this event, the Qth subdivision of the square 
on the upper left hand is painted purple, tvhich is the 
color for England. 

1512. Ponce de Leon discovers Florida. Eighth subdivision 
of the twelfth square is brick red for Sjpain. 

1517. Sebastian Cabot's last voyage in the English service 
Eighth s2ihdivision, purple. 

1520. Vasqiiez de Ayllon's Piracy on Chicora. Eighth, hricJc 
red. 

1523. Verrazzani explores American coasts for France. 
Eighth subdivision, blue, for France. 

1525. Stephen Gomez tries to discover North West Passage 

to India for Spain. Eighth subdivision, brick red. 

1526. Pamphilo de Narvaez attempts to conq[uer Florida. 

Eighth, hrick red. 

1534. James Oartier discovers Biver St. Lawrence. Eighth, 
blue. 

153t. Ferdinand de Soto attempts to conquer Florida. 
Eighth, brick red. 

1540. Roberval and Oartier try in vain to colonize Canada. 
Eighth, blue. 

1542. Ferdinand de Soto dies on the Mississippi. Ninthy 
hrick red. 



14 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1562. Ooligny sends a Huguenot Colony to America. Eighth^ 
hlue. 

1565. St. Augustine, founded by tlie Spanish Melendez, 
wlio conquers the Frencli colony. First and upper 
half of second, brick red, to represent the conquering 
Spaniards ; also, fifth, to re'present the foundation of 
St. Augustine ; and eighth, the deed of Melendez, 
a rcmarhahle person. Bhce in the loiver half of the 
second, and in the third, to represent French loss. 

1576. Martin Frobislier renews English Explorations. Eighth, 
purple. 

1578. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage and Death. Eighth, 

purple. 

1579. Sir Francis Drake discovers Oregon, and names it New 

Albion. Eighth, purple. 

1584. Sir Walter Ealeigh gets patent to colonize. Eighth, 

purple. 

1585. Sir W. E,.'s unsuccessful colony at Roanoke, carried out 

by Sir Richard Grenville. Eighth, purple. 

Let the scholar take the Plate, and in answer to q^uestions, 
describe how everything is represented and why, thus : 
Henry YII.'s granting the patent is represented by purple in 
the 6th subdivision of the year-sq^uare for 1501, because pur- 
ple is the color for England, and the sixth subdivision is the 
one for events classed as sundries. The adventurers are 
represented in the 8th subdivision of their respective years, 
because that is the subdivision for deeds of remarkable per- 
sons ; the purple, blue and brickred, discriminate the nations. 
Ferdinand de Soto's death is in the 9th subdivision because it 
is a death. To have attention called to these things will im- 
press the localities of the dates in the plate. 



15 



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OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TABLE, 

AND PLATE I. 

A VERY brilliant account of all the events represented 
in tliis table of tbe sixteenth century, can be found in the 
first three chapters of Mr. Bancroft's History of the United 
States, Theodore Irving's History of the Conquest of Florida, 
Gayarre's Lectures on the E^omance of the History of Louisi- 
ana, and Hakluyt's Voyages, are also charming books for 
those to read, who have leisure to go into the minute things of 
history. But for the convenience of young students, who can- 
not have the use of such books in school, we will give here a 
little account, enabling them to answer some q[uestions respect- 
ing each event. 

SPANISH ADVENTURERS. 

1520. Ponce de Leon was one of those Spaniards, whose life 
and adventures are told in Washington Irving's " Voyages of 
the Companions of Columbus." When he discovered Florida, 
he was cruising about the West India Islands, in search of a 
fountain, which, it was said, would bestow immortal youth. 
In those days such things could be believed; as you will easily 
understand, when by studying Universal History, you learn 
the condition of human minds in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries. On one Easter Sunday (called by the Spaniards 
Pascua Florida), Ponce de Leon saw land, which he named 
Florida, either from the day, or because it was covered with 
flowering trees. Landing, he explored the shores round about 
what is now St. Augustine, and then returned to Spain, 
where the king bestowed on him the title of governor of 



16 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Florida, and he prepared to go and conquer it. But, in his 
first attempt, he received a death wound from the oppo.sing 
savages, and went to seek his fountain of youth beyond the 
grave. 

1520. Vasquez de Ayllonmade a marauding expedition from 
St. Domingo to Chicora (now called South Carolina), for the 
express purpose of getting slaves. The timidity and wonder 
of the natives, at sight of the astonishing strangers, were 
charmed away by gifts ; and throngs of them came on board. 
Suddenly anchor was weighed, and they were carried into 
slavery. Charles the I. of Spain (just elected to be Charles 
the V. of Germany also), rewarded Vasquez for this cruel act 
by appointing him governor of Chicora. He spent his for- 
tune in fitting out a fleet to go and conquer the country ; but 
when he arrived, the hostility of the outraged natives pre- 
vented success, and, Cortez having in the mean time conquered 
Mexico, de Ayllon died from mortification and wounded pride 
at his own failure. 

1525. Stej)hen Gomez, in the Spanish service (who had 
been with Magellan in 1519, in the first vessel which went 
round the world), undertook to find a northwest passage to 
India. He explored the United States coast, the harbors of 
New York and New England, and made the first map of the 
coast. 

Finding no passage to India, he filled his vessel with 
natives, whom he sold as slaves. After his time, no Spaniards 
explored the coast of the United States above what is now 
Florida. But Spain named the whole coast, as far as Nova 
Scotia, Florida. 

152-6. Another attempt was made to conquer Florida, by 
Pamphilo de Narvaez, who carried out three hundred men for 
the purpose. But it failed ; for the cunning natives, who had 
doubtless heard of the conquest of Mexico, enticed the whole 



OF^ THE UNITED STATES. . l7 

party into tlie interior by tales of gold mines, and led them 
about until they were exhausted. After" having rambled 
eight hundred miles, they reached again the spot from which 
they had started ; and such as were left of them put to sea ; 
but a storm arose, and all perished with the vessels, except 
four or five, who several years after reached Mexico in the 
greatest destitution ! 

1537. Still another attempt to conquer Florida was made 
by Ferdinand de Soto. He was one of the companions of 
Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. That brilliant exploit roused 
his ambition and cupidity ; and going home to Charles V., 
resplendent in the gold he had gained, as his share of the 
spoils of Cuzco, he asked leave to go and conquer Florida, 
It was granted ; and he was appointed governor of Cuba. ISTo 
expedition to the New World was ever fitted out so splen- 
didly. Vasco Porcallo, an aged man of Cuba, lavished his 
fortune on the preparations ; and the adventurers from Spain 
were wealthy ; many of them nobles, who had sold magnificent 
estates at home to be replaced by El Dorados* in the West. 

When De Soto landed with his eight hundred men on the 
shores of Florida, he sent back the ships in which they came, 
that they might feel they must conquer or die. The natives 
played the same trick on this party that they did on that of 
Narvaez. They led them astray with stories of gold mines. 
If by chance an Indian was honest enough to say he knew 
of no golden treasures, the Spaniards would kill him. They 
explored in their wanderings all the Southern States up to 
the Apalachian mountains, the Mississippi river, and even 
west of the Mississippi. They were frightfully cruel to the 
natives. On one occasion they set fire to an Indian town, and 
2500 Indians perished. It is interesting to see on the other 

^ El Dorado means city of gold. 



18 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

hand how the natives defended themselves, now by craft, now 
by force. The party reached the Mississippi, and explored 
all its western branches south of the Missouri. After five 
years of incredible perseverance and hardship, De Soto's 
health gave way, and he died on the banks of the great river 
he had discovered, and was buried in its waters in 1542. 

1565. More than twenty years after, Philip II., king of 
Spain, heard that some French Huguenots had gone to Florida 
to plant a colony. Some say that it was the French govern- 
ment itself that gave the information ! Being entirely devoted 
to the interests of the Catholic church, Philip II. was roused 
to a new exertion to conquer Florida. He sent out for this 
purpose Melendez, who had served in his armies against the 
Protestants of Holland ; and he had also acquired riches in 
Spanish America ; both of which facts recommended him for 
the purposes of Philip. He was named governor of the 
country, which was indefinitely bounded ; and 2500 men Avere 
given him for a colony, including Jesuits and other ecclesi- 
astics, and married men. Domestic animals, a right to import 
500 negro slaves, and all materials for civilized life were also 
given him. 

Melendez reached the coast of Florida and entered a harbor 
on the fete day of St. Augustine, whose name he bestowed 
upon it. Encountering a French vessel, and being challenged, 
he said ; " I am Melendez, of Spain, sent with strict orders 
from my king to gibbet and behead all the Protestants in these 
regions. The Frenchman who is a Catholic I will spare ; 
every heretic shall die." 

He landed and went through all the Catholic ceremony of 
taking possession of the land for Philip II. Proclaiming him 
king of North America, he celebrated Grand Mass to conse- 
crate the act. Some Indians showed him the way to the 
French colony at St. Johns. He gained possession of the fort, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 

and massacred the garrison with the women and children. He 
pursued his victory with frightful cruelty, and actually put to 
death nearly a thousand Frenchmen. A few Catholics were 
saved, and some mechanics were kept for slaves. The rest 
were executed, " not," as Melendez said, " as Frenchmen, but 
as Protestants." 

A terrible revenge was executed upon the Spaniards by a 
Frenchman of Normandy, of the name of Gourges. Bancroft 
tells the story ; and it has become the foundation fact of a 
poem. But as it was a private and not a public act (France 
as a nation doing nothing, because the sufferers were Protest- 
ants), its effect was transient. It did not interrupt the Span- 
ish possession of St. Augustine. Gourges left on the shores 
many Spaniards hanged, with the inscription over them 
" Hanged not as Spaniards, but as butchers and assassins." 

Thus the oldest town in the United States, St. Augustine, 
was founded in 1565, on the bloody ruins of the French col- 
ony, and owes its origin to Philip the II. 's zeal for the Cath- 
lic church. It is forty-two years older than Jamestown. 

But, although no other settlement was made in the United 
States in this century, the blue and purple representations in 
our map show that the French and English made several 
attempts. 

FRENCH ADVENTURERS. 

1523. Francis I. of France, sent out Verrazzani, an Ital- 
ian navigator in his service, who explored the coast of the 
United States, and wrote an account of his discoveries, which 
is to be found in Hakluyt's Voyages (an interesting old book). 
There had been also voyages earlier than this, for the French 
already frequented the banks of Newfoundland for fish ; and 
had named Cape Breton. 



20 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1534. James Oartier was sent out for the purpose of col- 
onizing. He entered the river St. Lawrence, on the fete day 
of that saint, and therefore so named it. On returning to 
France, with an account of its size and beauty, a colony was 
easily formed, including even some young noblemen. But a 
winter in Canada cooled their enthusiasm, and they returned 
to France disappointed. Some years after. Lord E-oberval, 
of Normandy, obtained a commission of proprietorship of 
New-France, as the French had named the whole of the 
country, and, making James Oartier the leader of the expedi- 
tion, in 1540 tried again. Lord Roberval subsequently quar- 
relled with Oartier ; but they each made separate attempts 
at colonization, by wintering in Oanada two successive years, 
and then both of them abandoned the enterprise forever. 

1562. But religion, a more powerful motive than love of 
adventure, or desire of gain, prevailed to induce Ooligny, the 
champion of the Protestant cause in France, to plan a colony 
for his co-religionists in America. After one unsuccessful 
attempt, by means of a faithless agent named Villegagnon, 
he entrusted a new expedition to John Ribault, a firm Pro- 
testant and experienced navigator, who carried out some 
veteran troops, and some of the most promising of the young 
Huguenot nobles. They reached the southern part of the 
United States coast, and named the rivers whose mouths 
they entered, for the rivers of France. At last, they came 
to the river St. Johns, and there built a fort, which they 
called Fort Oarolana, in honor, strange to say, of Oharles IX. 
But this colony returned to France in less than a year, the 
religious wars so occupying Ooligny, that he could not send 
out requisite supplies. 

1564. When peace was restored, he renewed the effort 
with greater success. The emigrants had not, however, com- 
pletely mastered the difficulties attending the commencement 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 

of a colonial enterprise, wlien they were attacked and entirely 
destroyed (1565) by the Spanish Melendez, as has been told. 

ENGLISH ADVENTURERS. 

The English founded a claim for the whole United States 
coast, upon the voyages of discovery made by the Oabots in 
1497. 

1501. Henry VII. granted a commission to emigrants ; and 
early in the century, North American savages were exhibited 
in England. Fishermen also went to the banks of New- 
foundland, and in 1517, Sebastian Cabot made his last voyage 
in the English service. But the absorption of Henry VIII. 
in personal matters ; the development of Protestantism in 
Europe ; and all that was connected with that great event in 
England (which broke away from the Papacy, and then, 
under Mary, for some years persecuted Protestants), so wholly 
absorbed the energies of England, it was not until the latter 
half of Elizabeth's reign, that English voyages of discovery, 
and plans for colonization in America were renewed. 

1576. Martin Frobisher commenced a series of voyages in 
search of a north-west passage to India. As he had picked 
up a piece of shining earth in Labrador, one wide-spread ex- 
citement arose in England for the search of gold there, which 
stimulated a great expedition, ending in disappointment, of 
course. 

1578. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with more rational plans of 
colonization, procured a patent from Queen Elizabeth, and 
made two voyages to the coast of the United States ; but 
on his return from the second, he lost his life in a storm 
near the Azores, and only one small vessel of his fleet, reached 
England. 

1579. Sir Francis Drake (who was buccaneering in the 
Pacific Ocean), in a voyage in which he circumnavigated the 



22 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

globe, went up on tlie western coast of Nortli America, and 
discovered Oregon, whicli lie named New Albion. 

1584. Sir Walter Raleigli, not discouraged by bis kinsman's 
(Sir Humpbrey Gilbert's) want of success, procured a new 
patent from Queen Elizabetb, and sent Captains Amidas and 
Barlow to find a place for colonization on tbe Cbesapeake. 
Tbey touched still farther south, upon an island on the coast 
of North Carolina, and carried home so charming an account 
of the aspect of the country, that a colony was sent out in 
1585 by Sir Walter Ealeigh, the fleet being commanded by 
Sir E-ichard Grenville and the appointed governor of the col- 
ony, Ralph Lane. 

The fleet arrived June 24th, 1685, at Wocoken Island, near 
the mouth of the E^oanoke. This colony was not, hov/ever, 
successful, owing mainly to the incompetence of Governor Lane, 
and especially his want of wisdom and humanity toward the 
natives. Yet humanity had been enjoined upon him; for Sir 
Walter E/aleigh was intensely alive, in all his noble sensibili- 
ties, with indignation and horror, at the cruelties the Spaniards 
had perpetrated upon the inhabitants of the new world, and he 
wished that the English colonization of America, should be a 
blessing to the poor natives. The foolish management of 
Lane, the details of which Mr. Bancroft gives in his history, 
discouraged the colony ; and in the next year, when Sir 
Francis Drake on his return from the West Indies, called to 
see how the enterprize of his friend Sir Walter E-aleigh was 
prospering, he t(?ok upon his fleet the whole despairing com- 
pany, and carried it back to England. Sir Walter's own per- 
sonal misfortunes prevented an immediate renewal of the 
attempt ; and, therefore, during the sixteenth century, North 
America was yet wholly uncolonized by the English, though 
claimed, under the general name of Virginia. 

But Sir Walter's attempt was not entirely in vain. One of 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 28 

the company, the celebrated Hariot, wrote an account of it, 
and introduced to Europe three productions of the American 
soil, of immense consequence, the potatoe, Indian corn and 
tobacco. Harlot's account can be found in Hakluyt's Voya- 
ges. It ensured a renewal of the enterpise of colonization in 
the next century. 

Pupils will now be prepared to answer questions upon the 
IGth century. 



LESSON III. — Spanish Adventurers. (Red.) 

Who was Ponce de Leon ? Where is to be found an ac- 
count of his adventures '? What was he doing when he dis- 
covered Florida % Why did he name it Florida ? How did 
Charles the Vth reward him for this discovery ? What be- 
came of him ? 

What was Vasquez de Ayllon about, when he discovered 
Ohicora ? What do we call Ohicora? How did he succeed in 
his undertaking ? How was he rewarded for this cruel act ? 
What was his success and fate ? 

Where had Stephen Gomez been in 1519 ? Wliat did he 
undertake to do in 1525 ? What harbors did he explore ? 
What cruel thing did he do, when he was disappointed of find- 
ing the North-west passage to India ? 

When did Narvaez attempt to conquer Florida? How 
many men had he ? How did the Indians act 1 How many 
miles, and where did the Spaniards ramble ? What became 
of them at last ] 

Who was Ferdinand, de Soto ? How came he to be ap- 
pointed to conquer Florida 1 What were the preparations 1 
What was his first act when he landed ? How did the natives 



24 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

manage ? "Where did tlie party go ? How did they act to- 
ward the natives ? What discoveries did the Spaniards 
make ? What became of do Soto ? When did he die ? 
Where was he buried 1 

What was the cause of Melendez being sent to conquer 
Florida 1 Who was Melendez ? How was he induced to go, 
and fitted out 1 Why did he so name St. Augustine ? How 
did he announce himself to the French ? What did he do first 
on landing 1 How did he find the French fort 1 How did he 
act 1 To what then does St. Augustine owe its origin 1 How 
much older is it than any other city of the United States ? 
Was Melendez' cruelty punished? How long was it from 
Ponce de Leon's discovery to the founding of St. Augustine '? 
What happened in 1512? 1520? 1525? 1526? 1537? 1542? 
1565? Why is the red put in the eighth subdivision of the 
representation of these years ? Why in the fifth subdivision 
of 1565 ? Why in the upper triangle of the second subdivi- 
sion ? What does the orange color mean ? . 



LESSON IV. — French Adventurers. (Blue.) 

What did Francis I. do in 1523 ? Where can be found the 
account of Verrazzani's discoveries ? Had the French any 
earlier knowledge of the coasts of North America? What 
are proofs of this? 

What did James Oartier do in 1534? Why did he so name 
the St. Lawrence ? Under what different auspices did he go 
out in 1540 ? What discouraged all these attempts at coloniz- 
ation of Canada? 

What induced Ooligny to plant a colony in America in 
1562 ? What faithless agent did he employ ? What did he 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 

send out next 1 Where did John Eibault land and huild a 
fort 1 Why did they afterward abandon Fort Oarolana ? 
When was the attempt renewed "? What destroyed them at 
lasf? Why is bine put into the third subdivision of 1565, 
and in the lower triangle of the second subdivision. 



LESSON V. — English Adventurers. fPurple.J 

What did Henry YII. do in 1501 to encourage emigration 
to America? What was done by the English in 1517? 
What probably prevented English activity in this direction 
the next fifty years 1 What did Martin Erobisher undertake 
to do in 1576 1 How happened an expedition to be fitted out 
in search of gold to Labrador 1 

What wiser person made some voyages in 1578 1 What 
became of him ? Who discovered Oregon in 1579 ? What 
name did he give to it ? 

What great man undertook American colonization in 1584 ? 
What did Captains Amidas and Barlow accomplish ? Who 
commanded the fleet sent to E-oanoke in 1585 ? Who was 
governor of the colony ? Y/here did it land ? Why did it not 
succeed ? How was Sir Walter E-aleigh dis^DOsed towards the 
natives'? When and how did the party return to Eng- 
land? 

What several names were given by different nations to 
what is now the Atlantic coast of the United States 1 Where 
is to be found an account of the attempts of Sir Walter Ealeigh, 
and who wrote it ? What productions of America did he 
introduce to Europe, which were discovered by this colony ? 

What happened in 1501? 1517? 1576? 1578? 1579? 
1584 ? 1585 ? In what historical work is there an account of 
all these adventurers ? In what books especially can be read 
2 



26 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tlie accounts of the early Spanisli and French adventurers in 
the South ? In what old English hook of Voyages can he 
read an account of the English adventurers and others'? 

N.B. — To these books we might perhaps add, the History 
of Sir Amyas Leigh, a novel by Kingsley. 



TABLE OF THE 17th CENTUEY. 

1602. Bartholomew Grosnold attempts to colonise Nashaun. 
1605. Portroyal in Acadia, first permanent French colony, 
George Weymouth's voyage and piracy. 

1607. Jamestown, Virginia, first permanent English colony. 

1608. Quebec founded by Champlain. Pocahontas saves 

Oapt. Smith. 

1613. English first attack French. Short Indian war. Poca- 
hontas' marriage to John Bolfe. 

1615. Dutch settle on the Hudson and Manhattan Island. 

1620. Pilgrims settle Plymouth. First slaves in Virginia. 

1622. Pocahontas dies. Indian war. Indians are conq[uered. 

1623. Shores of Maine and New Hampshire settled. 

1629. English take Quebec. Peace with France restores it. 

1630. French found Montreal. De Vries' voyage to Delaware. 

1634. Maryland settled by English Catholics. 

1635. Connecticut settled by Pilgrims from Massachusetts. 

1636. Hhode Island settled by Eoger Williams, and Harvard 

College founded. 

1637. Swedes and Finns colonize on the Delaware. 

1644. Indian war in Virginia and in the Netherlands; English 

treaty with the Five Nations. 

1645. Dutch treaty with the Algonquins. 

1655. New Sweden conquered by New Netherlands. 

1659. G-eneral persecution of Quakers. Death of Mary Dyer. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 

1663. Nortli Carolina settled by persecuted Quakers. 

1664. New Netherlands surrendered to tlie English. 

1665. New Jersey granted to Berkeley and Carteret. 
1670. South Carolina settled. Locke's " Grand Model." 

1675, King Philips' war and death. Narragansetts destroyed. 

1676. Indian war in Virginia. Bacon's rebellion and death. 

1681. Pennsylvania and Delaware founded by Penn. 

1682. La Salle sailed down the Mississippi. 

1686. French found Fort Niagara. Sir Edmund Andros. 

1689. " King William's war'' with the French. 

1690. Schenectady burnt, and massacre by French and Indians. 

1691. Delaware separated from Pennsylvania. College of 

" William and Mary" founded in Virginia. 

1692. Witchcraft in Massachusetts ; 22 Executions. 
1697. Peace of E-yswick ends " King William's war." 
1699. French found Biloxi on the Mississippi. 



LESSON VI. — Exercise on the Plate. 

Let the pupils take the plate before them, and the teacher 
will ask, how each event, mentioned in the Table, is repre- 
sented. The scholar will ansAver thus : Bartholomew Gos- 
nold's attempt is represented in purple, in the second year- 
sc[uare, eighth subdivision; because he was a remarkable 
person, &c. It will be very plain how the questions are to 
be answered, generally speaking. To the questions on 1613, 
the answer will be : the two wars are represented in the 
first subdivision of the 13th year-square, by two parallelo- 
grams. Each parallelogram is divided into two triangles, 
and the conquering English are represented in the upper 
triangles, in purple ; the conquered French in one of the 
lower triangles, in blue ; and the conquered Indians in the 



28 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

other lower triangle, in orange. The purple and orange tri- 
angles, in the sixth subdivision, represent Pocahontas' mar- 
riage. The explanation of the painted centuries can be con- 
sulted, and the scholar give the reason of every representa- 
tion being just what it is. Chronology is the best system of 
mneumonics for history, provided the chronology can be easily 
and thoroughly impressed on the memory ; and this, it is the 
office of the painted centuries to do. The exercise now pro- 
posed, is not of itself a tax on the memory, because the 
pupils have the plate before them, and answer from the plate; 
but by describing the representations and the reasons for each, 
a careful attention to the plate is secured, and an opportunity 
for the impression to be made is given. After the Historical 
Illustrations are studied, there should be a review of the 
Table, requiring another kind of answers. For instance, the 
questions should be of this kind : what happened in 1602, 
1605, &c., and the answer should be wholly tiiemoriter. 

And the author begs leave to suggest, that the teachers 
should follow the questions implicitly ; for it is believed that 
they are planned on a philosophical view of the nature of 
memory ; requiring of that faculty an exertion — not painful, 
but effective for permanent impression. Many young teach- 
ers seem to think, that the most painful exertion of memory 
is the most effective. It is an entire mistake. A teasing 
method of questioning, destroys the action of memory. We 
remember nothing so well, as what we have dwelt upon with 
pleasure. The questions do not require a reproduction of 
every word ; but sometimes they leave scope for a little nar- 
ration. Study should be preceded or followed by a perusal 
of the entire chapters on which the questions are raised, so 
that a good general impression may be obtained. Nothing is 
more important in reference to remembering history, than that 
the mind should feel itself at ease, to contemplate the narra- 






29 

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OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 

tive as a whole, and quite within its power to grasp. Our 
questions aim to pick out such points in tlie narrative, as shall 
insure the recollection of the whole of it. An important part 
of the art of teaching, is to make the natural laws of associa- 
tion act vigorously, but the questions of some teachers seem 
calculated to paralyse these entirely. 

LESSON VII. — Historical Geography — Indian Tribes. 

Instead of adding another to the innunierable maps of the 
United States, which abound in all schools, we propose to 
give the pupils a practical lesson in geography, in the follow- 
ing manner : 

Let the pupils, in the first place, take some, moderately 
sized map of the United States, and trace all its natural fea- 
tures, namely, its coasts, rivers, lakes, and mountains ; but 
omit the boundary lines of -the States altogether, as our first 
map must be purely Indian. 

The Indians are divided by affinity of language into the 
Algonquins, the Huron or Iroquois, including the Five 
Nations and the Mobilian tribes. Besides these, are the 
Oherokees, Natchez, Uchees, Oatav^bas, and the Tusca- 
ROORAS, the last of whom subsequently joined the Five Na- 
tions. All these lie east of the Mississippi, and comprise the 
tribes with which the European colonists of the United 
States came into relation. They can be distinguished from 
each other by colors, as we shall presently show. Dot a line 
from lake Nipissing to the junction of the Sorrel and St. 
Lawrence rivers, somewhat sinking in the middle towards 
Lake Ontario, which will make the northern boundary of the 
Hurons ; proceed south, on the western bank of the Sorrel 
and Lake Ohamplain, to the junction of the Mohawk and 
Hudson ; then south-west, touching the sources of the Dela- 



30 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

ware to tlie junction of the Snsquelianna and Juniata ; still 
onward, to the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany ; 
then northward to the western end of Lake Erie, and along 
the St. Clair and Lake Huron, which will make the rest of 
the western boundary. Color the enclosed space blue, to re- 
present the Huron tribes, and write the words Huron or Iro- 
quois upon the blue, north of the lakes Erie and Ontario ; and 
south of Ontario, write the names of the Five ISTations, Cay- 
ugas, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas, and Moliawhs, around 
the lakes and river which still retain those names : a little 
west, south of Lake Erie, write Andastes, and still further 
west, Eries. For the southern boundary of the Algonquins, 
dot a line beginning at the junction of the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi, along east to the junction of the Cumberland and Ohio ; 
then directly south, till it nearly reaches the Tennessee ; then 
north-east, on the northerly ridge of the mountains, till the 
sources of the James river are reached ; then southeast to 
Albemarle Sound ; then southwest to the Pedee, leaving a 
considerable space on the sea shore ; then along the northern 
bank of the Pedee to the ocean. All the country north of 
this line, except what is already painted for the Huron tribes 
(including New-Brunswick and Acadia), should be painted 
pink for the Algonquins. The names of their several tribes 
should be written thus, the Micmacs, in Nova Scotia ; Etche- 
mins or canoe-men, in New-Brunswick ; the Ee7iohscots and 
Androscoggins on the rivers of the same name ; the Norridge- 
wochs, on the Kennebec ; the SaJcoJcis, on the Saco ; the 
Pawtuckets, in New-Hampshire ; the Nipmaclcs, in Vermont 
and New-Hampshire ; the Massacliusetts, in the northeast of 
the State so named ; the Wmnpanoags, in Rhode Island, east 
of Narragansett Bay ; the Na7-7'agansetts, west of the same 
bay ; the Pequods, on the Thames, in Connecticut ; the Mo- 
Jiegans, west of Connecticut Kiver. The general name of 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 

Ahenakis was given to the Maine tribes, and the JPohanokets 
were tlie portion of the Wampanoags who lived round Mount 
Hope, and were governed by king Philip. The Manhattans 
were on the island still so called ; the Wahmgas just west 
in north New-Jersey ; the Lenni Lenape, more southerly in 
New-Jersey, divided into the Minsi and Delawares ; the Sus- 
quehannocks between the Delaware and Susq^uehanna. On the 
eastern shore of Maryland, the Nanticokes ; in Virginia, the 
twenty tribes of Powhatan ; the Pamlicos, between the 
E-oanoke and the Tar ; the Coi'ees, south of the Pamlicos. 
Between the Ohio and Cumberland rivers the Shawnees ; in 
Ohio the Mia?nis ; west of the Miami the Illinois ; north 
of the Illinois, the Kickajpoos ; north of the Kickapoos, on 
the south part of lake Michigan, the Pottoiv atonies ; in 
the north, between Lake Michigan and Huron, the Ottawas ; 
v/ho also lay north of the Ottawa E-iver in Canada. Between 
Lake Michigan and Superior, the Menomonies ; south of 
Lake Superior, the Chippewas ; south of the Chippewas, the 
Bacs and Foxes. Just south of the eastern part of this line on 
the Eoanoke river, write the word Tuscarooras, and draw a 
strait line from the mountains to the Sound for the southern 
boundary. Paint this division blue, as this tribe subsequently 
joined the Five Nations. South of the Tuscarooras, between 
the sources of the Santee and Pedee, write Catawbas, and 
making an isosceles triangle round the word, whose base 
shall be towards the west, paint it yellow. West of the Tus- 
carooras and Catawbas, in the mountainous country towards 
the Tennessee river, is the Cherokee country, the southern 
boundary touching the sources of the Mobile, Apalachicola, 
Altamaha, and Savannah, which can be dotted off and painted 
green ; south of the Cherokees, between the branches of the 
Altamaha and Savannah, in a parallelogram of about a quar- 
ter of the size of the Cherokee country are the Uchees, 



32 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

• 

to Ibe painted purple ; east of the Mississippi, anotli^r small 
parallelogram, including the present city of Natchez ; may be 
painted vermillion to express the Natchez. All the rest of 
the southern country should he painted orange for the Mo- 
BiLiAN TRIBES. These had, however, various names ; thus, 
the Yamasses, or the Savannah ; the Edistos, between the 
Santee and Edisto ; the Mikasukies, in Florida ; the Chicha- 
saws, north of the Natchez, on the west hank of the Tennes- 
see ; the CJioctaws, south of the Natchez ; the Pascagoulas, 
south of the Ohoctaws ; and the Creeks or Muscogees, east- 
ward of these. 

If these names are written, as indicated, with a fine pointed 
lead pencil, on the colors, a very strong impression will be 
made on the memory of the scholar doing it, of the localities 
of the Indians in the middle of the seventeenth century ; and 
this will make the historical illustrations of it more intelligi- 
ble. In the progress of American colonization, the Algon- 
quin tribes drew off to the Northwest, and the Mobilian to the 
South and West, 

It would be a good plan to have still another map, traced 
with the natural features ; on which the European settlements 
made, and towns founded, might be inserted, as they come 
along in the narrative. Any atlas of the United States will 
enable the teacher to dictate the particulars of such a map, 
the making of which will be also mnemonic for the history, 
as each place will be associated with some event. Wilson's 
history of the United States has a thorough Geographical 
index in its marginal notes, which the teacher can consult. 

VIRGINIA. 

1607. A small fleet, commanded by Captain Newport, and 
having on board one hundred and five emigrants, among 
whom were Bartholomew Gosnold and Captain John Smith, 



OF THE UNITED STATES, 83 

entered the Chesapeake bay on May 23d, 1607, and made a 
new and successful attempt at colonizing America. They 
named the two headlands as they entered the bay. Cape 
Charles and Cape Henry, in honor of the two sons of the king 
of England ; and, as sailing west, they found themselves in a 
river, they named it James, from the king himself; and when, 
after sailing sixty miles, they found a point of land, which 
seemed to them suitable, they landed their company, and 
commenced building the first English town in America, which 
they called Jamestown. 

Bartholomew Gosnold had, in 1602, made a voyage directly 
across the Atlantic ocean from England ; and discovered and 
named Cape C od ; but finding it a bad place to land, he pro- 
ceeded South as far as Nashaun, the largest of a group of 
islands which he called the Elizaheth, in honor of the great 
Queen of England, who died in that year. He had the plan 
at that time of founding a colony, and actually built a fort in 
a little islet in a little pond, in Nashaun, which presented 
the most attractive appearance. For the whole island was 
covered with forest trees, and wild fruits and flowers ; " tlie 
eglantine, the thorn, and the honeysuckle, the wild pea, the 
tansy, and young sassafras ; strawberries, raspberries, grape 
vines, all in profusion." But after all he did to persuade them 
he could not induce his men to stay. They feared the Indi- 
ans ; and that they should be left to perish, as the Eoanoke 
colony had been in the century before. But this voyage, and 
another, by George Weymouth, who, in 1605, explored these 
islands and the whole coast and carried home five Indians, 
excited attention in England ; and assisted in stimulating the 
enterprise which issued in the establishment of Jamestown, 
whose patrons were the Governor of Plymouth, Sir Ferdinand 
Gorges (to whom Weymouth had given three of the Indians 
he had stolen, and who was rich) ; also Popham, Lord Chief 
2* 



84 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTOEY 

Justice of England; and Eicliard Hakluyt, the heir of Sir 
Walter Raleigh's rights, and the compiler of *' The Voyages," 
a very reliable source of information. 

The money for the outfit was advanced by a London com- 
pany of merchants, of which the above persons were members, 
and who had commercial rather than colonizing views. The 
emigrants hoped to find gold, and were not well organized for 
colonization. They were forty-eight gentlemen to four car- 
penters ; and they found very soon, that beautiful as the coun- 
try looked, there was a S7iake in the grass. The climate was 
deleterious : it was excessively hot, and the labor of building 
huts was very distressing to gentlemen who did not know how 
to work. Before autumn fifty died, Bartholomew Gosnold 
among the number ; and those who survived were all ill, 
excepting four or five. If Captain Newport had not gone 
home with the ships, they would certainly have gone on board, 
and returned to England. To add to their troubles, they 
quarrelled among themselves ; and, though jealous of Captain 
John Smith from the first, on account of his superiorities, they 
were obliged to call him to the command. 

Captain Smith was only thirty years of age, but he 
was an old adventurer. In his early life he had fought for 
the United Provinces; then he had travelled over France, 
Italy and Egypt ; and " panting for glory," as Bancroft says, 
" had sought the borders of Hungary ; and it was there," he 
continues, " that the English cavalier distinguished himself 
by the bravest feats of arms, in the sight both of Christians 
and infidels ; engaging fearlessly, and always successfully, in 
the single comhat with the Turks, which, from the days of the 
crusades, had been warranted by the rules of chivalry. His 
signal prowess gained for him the favor of Sigismund Bathory, 
prince of Transylvania. At length, with many others, he was 
overpowered in a sudden skirmish among the glens of "Wal- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 60 

lacliia, and was left severely wounded in tlie field of battle. 
A prisoner of war, lie was now, according to the Eastern cus- 
tom, offered for sale, * like a beast in the market place ;' and 
was sent to Constantinople as a slave. A Turkish lady had 
compassion on his misfortunes and his youth, and designing to 
restore him to freedom, removed him to a fortress in the 
Crimea. Contrary to her commands, he was there subjected 
to the harshest usage among half savage serfs. Eising against 
his task master, whom he slew in the struggle, he mounted a 
horse, and through forest paths escaped from thraldom to the 
confines of Russia. Again the hand of woman relieved his 
wants ,• he travelled across the country to Transylvania, and 
there, bidding farewell to his companions in arms, he resolved 
to return to his ' own sweet country.' But as he crossed the 
continent he heard the rumors of civil war in ]Sr,orthern Africa, 
and hastened in search of untried dangers to the realms of 
Morocco. At length, returning to England, his mind did not 
so much share as appropriate to itself the general enthusiasm 
for planting states in America, and now the infant common- 
wealth of Virginia depended for its existence on his firmness ! 
His experience of human nature under all its forms, and the 
cheering vigor of his resolute will, made him equal to his 
duty. He inspired the natives with awe, and quelled the 
spirit of anarchy and rebellion among the emigrants. He 
was more wakeful to gather provisions than covetous to find 
gold ; and strove to keep the country, more than the faint- 
hearted to abandon it." 

The colonists had been told to seek the passage to the 
Indies by some stream, that the people of that day supposed 
must lead across the intervening land; and though Smith 
knew it was an impossible quest, yet, for the sake of making 
discoveries, he took some companions and sailed up the Ohick- 
^-hominy (which is one of the branches of the James river). 



SQ CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Here iiis companions, who had disobeyed his instructions, 
were taken prisoners and pnt to death by the Indians ; but 
he contrived to save his life by displaying a pocket compass, 
and impressing the savages with a sense of his superiority. 
They carried him about to their various settlements, and 
endeavored by incantations and otherwise to discover the 
secret of his power. At last, however, fear prevailed to bring 
them to the cruel determination of putting him to death ; and 
his head was actually bowed to receive the blow of the fatal 
tomahawk, when Pocahontas,^ the daughter of the chief Pov*^- 
hatan (who had from the first showed favor towards the 
English), having been won by the beautiful stranger's gen- 
tle caresses of herself, threw herself upon his neck, and, 
clinging to him, declared that they should kill her if they 
killed him. 

" The barbarians," says Bancroft, " whosfe decision had long 
been held in suspense by the mysterious awe which Smith 
had inspired, now resolved to receive him as a friend, and 
to make him a partner of their councils. They tempted him 
to join their bands, and lend assistance in an attack upon 
Jamestown ; and when his decision of character succeeded in 
changing the current of their thoughts, they dismissed him 
with mutual promises of friendship and benevolence. Thus 
the captivity of Smith, did itself become a benefit to the col- 
ony, for he had not only observed with care the country 
between the James and the Potomac, and had gained some 
knowledge of the language and manners of the natives, but he 
now established a peaceful intercourse between the English 
and the tribes of Powhatan ; and, with her companions, the 
child, who had rescued him from death, afterward came every 
few days to the fort with baskets of corn for the garrison." 

Pocahontas was at this time only twelve years old. Seven 
years after she was married to an Englishman. - The circum- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 

stances were quite interesting : A party of foragers Lad 
stolen this lovely girl from Powhatan, who lived in a village 
of twelve wigwams, just below Eichmond ; and adding insult 
to injury, they insolently demanded a ransom. But the indig- 
nant father refused, and the first Indian war was in 1612. 
While Pocahontas remained a prisoner, John Rolfe, who 
seems to have been an innocent and devout enthusiast, was 
impressed with a sense of the duty of marrying and convert- 
ing the young heathen ; but, as Christians in those days were 
very Jewish in their superstitions, he was tormented with the 
fear of uniting himself to " one of barbarous breeding and 
accursed race," lest he should be exposed to the punishment 
denounced against those Israelites of old, who '' sanctified 
strange women." But, as he said : " the Holy Ghost cried 
audibly in his ears day and night," and " after great struggle 
of mind, and daily and believing prayers," he resolved "to 
win the favor, and labor for the salvation of the maiden." 
Pocahontas was docile of heart and quick of comprehension, 
and soon was led to renounce her heathen faith, and profess 
faith in Jesus Christ. She was baptized in the church of 
Jamestown, the font being "hewn in the shape of a canoe, out 
of a tree." Immediately after, she was married to E,olfe ; and 
from them is descended the Randolph family of Virginia. 
Three years after her marriage, she went to Europe with her 
husband, and was presented to the queen; and, by her natu- 
ral charms, her innocence, and virtue, she "won universal 
favor. She was the first Christian of her nation. But the 
climate of England proved fatal to her, and she died in 1622. 
*' This early death," Bancroft says, " v/as fortunate for her ; for 
dwelling in memory under the form of perpetual youth, she 
was spared the suffering of seeing her race exterminated.'^ 
Her marriage had been associated with a treaty of peace be- 
tween the English and the tribes of Powhatan, which had 



88 ' CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

been kept sacred during her father's life, who died four years 
before his daughter. After his death, his successor, becoming 
alarmed at the encroachments of the English, and their vio- 
lences, organized an extensive conspiracy, and, in 1622, 
commenced a frightful massacre. Three hundred and forty- 
seven persons were killed ; and the whole English population 
would have been exterminated, but that the night before the 
execution of the plan, a converted Indian revealed the plot to 
an Englishman whom he wished to save ; and by this means, 
the larger part of the colony was prepared against the attack. 
A war of extermination followed, and a law remained in force 
for ten years, that no peace should be concluded with the In- 
dians. To teach them the use of fire-arms, had been, and 
long continued to be, an offence punishable with death ; and, 
undefended as they were by armor and powerful weapons, 
they had no chance in open battle. Smith, on one occasion, 
vanquished eight hundred with fifteen men. The Indian 
population was not more than one to a square mile, and Pow- 
hatan's territory was 8,000 square miles. They, therefore, 
presently were glad to give up to the English, and no further 
trouble took place till 1644, when stimulated by the continual 
hostility of the settlers, and finding England was in trouble, 
they organized another conspiracy, and killed 300 ; but at 
that time they seemed to be panic struck from within, for they 
stopped without any apparent cause. Again the war of ex- 
termination was renewed, with such effect, that it was thirty 
years before another Indian war occurred, (which will be 
spoken of in connection with the Insurrection of Nathaniel 
Bacon, of which it was the immediate occasion, but not the 
cause). With this war of 1644 in Virginia, was contempora- 
neous another Indian war, on the Hudson, which belongs 
rather to the history of New York, and which was terminated 
by the treaty with the Eive Nations. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 

But Tve have anticipated. It is necessary, in order to un- 
derstand the insurrection of 1676, to keep in view the politi- 
cal history of Virginia, from the time of Captain John Smith's 
assuming the direction of the colony. The patent of King 
James to the London company, granted land from thirty-four 
to thirty-eight degrees of latitude, on condition of homage^ 
and a payment of a fifth of all the gold and silver they should 
find. The colony was actually under four sovereigns: the 
king of England ; one council in London, and one in Vir- 
ginia — the members of the London one to be nominated by the 
king, and those of the Virginia one, to be nominated by the 
London Council ; and finally, under a Commercial Corpora- 
lion! The emigrants had not one right of self-government, 
except that of trial by jury. The king made a code of laws, 
in addition to the common law, and established the Episcopal 
Church. 

The emigrants were organized into a kind of commu- 
nity, under Capt. Smith, who exacted six hours of labor 
a day, teaching the gentlemen the use of the axe and 
hoe. He also sent to England for " thirty carpenters, hus- 
bandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and dig- 
gers-up of tree-roots," — a new supply of colonists having come 
out, "not of the right sort." Bat just as they arrived, he had 
met with an accident which obliged him to return to Eng- 
land in search of medical aid. There could have been no 
greater misfortune. Quarrels with the Indians immediately 
ensued, which brought on a famine ; and the whole company 
was reduced to sixty. Had this " Starvation Time" endured 
ten days longer, they would have been exterminated ; but 
just at this critical juncture. Lord De la War arrived, with 
five hundred new emigrants. 

This timely succor arose from the better views respecting 
the colony, which had begun to prevail in London, inducing 



40 CHEON-OLOGIOAL HISTORY 

tlie grant of a new charter, conferring on the London Com- 
mercial Company, the powers the first cliarter had reserved to 
the king ; and the appointment of the good Lord De la War 
as governor, was made in order to stimulate emigration. 

Lord De la War was received with great rejoicings, and 
proceeded to the restanration of the colony with religious serv- 
ices. Immediately the face of things was renewed, though 
the community plan was retained. Every morning all the 
colonists repaired, for religious service, to the rustic church, 
which was kept trimmed with wild flowers. Then they took 
breakfast. From six till ten were the morning hours of 
labor; from two till four the evening hours. 

But Lord De la War's health soon failed, and his mild and 
genial rule was succeeded by the martial law of Sir Thomas 
Dale. Possibly this change was made necessary by the work- 
ings of the community plan ; for we find the rights of private 
property immediately after established, and mentioned as a 
cause of marked improvement. The stimulus of private pro- 
perty has always been found indispensable to the production 
of industry and wealth, except where a definite religious ob- 
ject has concentrated and energized the social sentiment; as, 
for instance, among the Shakers, and some other religious 
communities. " Thirty men laboring for the colony" says 
Bancroft, " accomplished less than three men weve now able 
to perform for themselves." But he adds, " though the sanc- 
tity of private property was recognized, as the surest guaran- 
tee of industry, the rights of the Indians were little respected." 

The prosperity of the colony now encouraged the company 
in England to get a third patent from King James, which 
gave the governing corporation a democratic form, though it 
still conceded no rights to the emigrants. Bounties of land 
were now granted to emigrants, and as rewards of merit. 
Thus, in 1615, Bancroft says : " the sect of gold-finders had 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 

become extinct ; and now the fields, the gardens, the public 
squares, and even the streets of Jamestown, were planted 
with tobacco." 

Possession of property, gained from the earth by individ- 
uals, suggested the need of popular rights. Difficulties arose 
between the colonial proprietors and the managers of the 
governing corporation, who wanted dividends on the capital 
they had laid out in planting the colony, and in sustaining it 
during its infancy. Dale's martial law was succeeded by 
Argall's ; and during his administration the difficulties culmi- 
nated, necessitating change of measures. The *' mild and pop- 
ular Yeardley," was then appointed governor ; and under his 
compromising auspices, the first colonial assembly that ever 
met in Virginia, convened in Jamestown. This was the year 
before the Pilgrims emigrated (1619). 

As soon as this legislative liberty was granted to the colo- 
nists, Virginia began to be regarded as their country by Eng- 
lishmen. Within three years 3,500 colonists were added, 
including large companies of women — of which sex, only two 
are mentioned to have em^igrated before. First ninety, after- 
wards sixty "maids of virtuous education, young, handsome, 
and well recommended," were induced to go out, for the ex- 
press purpose of marrying the colonists, who paid the com- 
pany, at whose expense they were sent out, 120 or 150 pounds 
of tobacco apiece, for these wives ! This was in 1619 ; and 
in 1621, a written constitution was given to Virginia, with a 
form of government analagous to that of the English ; no 
orders of the court of London bound the colony, unless rati- 
fied by the general assembly of Virginia — the supreme poAver 
being held to reside in the hands of the colonial parliament, 
and of the king as king of Virginia. 

Sir Francis Wyatt, the successor of Yeardley, brought this 
constitution to Virginia. It was obtained by the patriot party 



42 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

in Europe, among whom Bancroft mentions tlie name of the 
Earl of Southampton, the well known patron of Shakspeare.* 

To the student of universal history, it is an interesting 
fact, that the basis of American liberty was given to Virginia 
by such persons. It throws light on the suggestion which 
has been made, that there was a suppressed revolution in 
England at this time, of which the American Constitution in- 
timates the character, had it been developed. New light, it is 
probable, will break out from this portion of English history, 
when it has been more thoroughly studied, for much as is 
known of it, the arbitrary power which executed Sir Walter 
Raleigh, and circumscribed the liberty of speech of Lord 
Bacon, spread over events a veil which has not yet been lifted, 
and puzzled the understanding of men with respect to the 
eternal laws of development, even to the present day. 

Negro slavery was engrafted into the colonies the year be 
fore the establishment of free representative government in 
Virginia. In the same year that the ship of the pilgrims 
neared the New-England shore, a Dutch barc[ue, loaded with 
twenty negro slaves, was approaching that of Virginia. Ban- 
croft, in his Fifth Chapter, gives a picture of slavery as it 
existed at that time in the world ; and a slight sketch of its 
history from the earliest ages. He shows that there were 
also white slaves in Virginia ; but even then, the emancipa- 
tion of these was more easy and certain than that of negroes. 
The increase of negroes was not great at first. In the whole 
century it did not amount to an 100. 

When Charles I. came upon the throne of England, he did 
not interfere with the popular administration of Virginia. He 
recognised its free assembly by making an offer of a contract 



*"' In the history of the colony of Virginia, Bancroft and Hildreth dif- 
fer. A mature student should compare their statement and views. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 

for the whole crop of tobacco, wliicli was to be considered by 
the members ; and they proved their independence and power 
by rejecting the conditions of the contract, which they were as- 
sembled to approve. Virginia being thus respected, continued 
in good will to Charles I. throughout his troubles ; and " the 
lovers of monarchy," as Bancroft says, '' indulged the hope 
that the victories of their friends on the Chesapeake would 
redeem the disgrace that had elsewhere fallen on the royal 
arms." Many royalists emigrated to Virginia, both before 
and after Charles's death. 

The " navigation act " of Cromwell came nigh, however, to 
bring about trouble between the Commonwealth and Virginia. 
This act of consummate policy, which enabled the commerce 
of England successfully to dispute the empire of the seas 
with the Dutch, threatened the interests of Virginia ; as it 
forbade all trade between the British colonies and any other 
nation than England. This was resisted in Virginia and Bar- 
badoes, and Cromwell sent out some troops and a commissioner 
to enforce the act ; but they went to Barbadoes first, where 
they were met by an armed resistance, Barbadoes being the 
first colony which stood upon colonial rights. Cromwell was 
quick to take an idea ; and being thus taught what the spirit 
of colonial resistance might be, he concluded to respect the 
rights already conceded to the Virginians. The assembly 
was called to consult upon the application of these laws to 
themselves ; and the result was virtual independance. It 
was agreed that free born People of Virginia should have all 
the liberties of the people of England ; should intrust their 
affairs, as formerly, to their own assembly; should remain 
unquestioned v/ith respect to their past loyalty ; and should 
have as free trade as the people of England. They were com- 
pelled, however, to tolerate other churches than those of Eng- 
land : and these terms, so favorable to the development of 



44: CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

libertj, as Bancroft says, were faitlifuUy observed, till the 
Restoration of the Stuarts, in 1660. 

Bancroft gives a charming account of what he calls " the 
Paradise of Virginia," during the middle of the seventeeth 
century. He describes the planters living on their separate 
estates, with their laborers about them (who, though slaves, 
were then always working for their liberty),* far from the 
civil wars and commotions of England, and learning to value — 
by enjoying the privileges of independency. They governed 
their own affairs in an assembly where all had a vote ; and 
even elected their governor ; for the commonwealth conceded, 
with every other right of self-government, this privilege also 
to the Virginians. It established the supremacy of the popu- 
lar branch of the government ; and every freed slave had a 
right to vote. But the planters, with singular want of fore- 
sight, elected for their governor Sir William Berkeley, who 
had been the last royal governor, and was a great bigot. This 
shows that though democratic with respect to each other, their 
sympathies were aristocratic and royalist. It is said Berkeley 
wrote to Charles II. while he was in exile, and invited him to 
America. But Cromwell had no leisure to see to such things, 
even if he knew of them. 

This prevailing royalist sentiment explains why the Restor- 
ation of the Stuarts to the throne of England was " hailed on 
banks of the Chesapeake with delirious joy." In the excite- 
ment of the moment, most important privileges and rights 
were lost sight of. Sir William Berkeley immediately assumed 
his old position as a royal governor; and issued writs for 
electing an assembly in the name of the king. The new 



^" It does not clearly appear whether negroes were included among these 
slaves who were working for their liberty. But there were few negroes 
then in comparison with white slaves. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 

assembly was composed of landliolders and cavaliers, not more 
than two being members of tlie next preceding assembly. It 
immediately showed its political character by disfranchising a 
magistrate for " factions and schismatical demeanors.'' 

But when the new government of England undertook 
to establish in America the colonial monopoly of the naviga- 
tion act, which broke up the free trade of the people of Vir- 
ginia, the assembly itself became alarmed ; the colonists 
being obliged to buy foreign goods of the English merchants, 
at the highest prices, and sell their own goods for whatever 
they chose to give ; because they were allowed no vessels 
of their own, to go and buy and sell where they pleased ! 
The entire colonial traffic too was restricted to favorthe Eng- 
lish merchants. But they took a very unwise measure in 
selecting Sir William Berkeley to go to England and present 
the grievances of Virginia for redress ; he did not understand 
his mission at all ; and while in England employed himself in 
obtaining, in company with several other nobleman, the pro- 
prietary grant of the Oarolinas. For Virginia he secured not 
one franchise. 

Thus at the epoch of the Restoration, the arristocratic part 
of the assembly was already in the ascendency, and modified 
the democratic institutions of Virginia into an aristocratic 
form. A committee appointed to revise the laws, restored 
the ancient statutes. The Episcopal church, which had been 
compelled to tolerate independent churches, was now reestab- 
lished, and every one Vv^as taxed to support it. The vestries 
were allowed to govern the parishes. No nonconformist was 
to teach, on pain of banishment. The greatest severity against 
Quakers was revived, and the hard laws executed. Baptists 
were banished or fined. A tax was levied on tobacco, to pay 
the magistrates. The governor was no longer to depend on 
the colony, but on the king for his salary, and Berkeley seemed 

(e) 



46 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

insatiable for revenue. Not only tlie governor and council, 
but even the judges were all appointed, directly or indirectly, 
by tbe crown ; and tlie county courts, independent of tbe 
people, possessed and exercised tlie arbitrary power of levy- 
ing taxes. There was no appeal from these courts, except to 
the governor or council. To complete the revolution, this 
assembly, chosen for two years, assumed by its own act an 
indefinite continuance of power, and was not dissolved until 
the Eebellion of Bacon in 1676. 

The immediate occasion of this rebellion was the Indian war 
which was renewed at this time by reason of a great move- 
ment among the Indians. The Five Nations, i. e. the Senecas, 
Cayugas, Oliondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, who inhab- 
ited the country south of Erie and Ontario, had driven the 
Susqu eh annas from their original seats ; and they came down 
upon the tribes of the Potomac, which alarmed the colony of 
Maryland ; and, on one occasion, John Washington, an emi- 
grant from Westmoreland, England, and ancestor of George 
Washington, who had settled on the south side of the Poto- 
mac in Virginia, went across the river to lend his assistance 
against the Piscataways. Soon after, six of the Indian chiefs 
came to the English camp to arrange a peace, and were treach- 
erously seized and put to death. To revenge this cruel act, 
the Indians made a series of massacres all the way from 
Mount Vernon to the James river. When they had glutted 
their revenge, they proposed peace ; but it was rejected by the 
English, who determined to keep up the war, and not being 
satisfied with the governmental mode of attack and defence, 
demanded that Nathaniel Bacon should be made their leader. 
This, Governor Berkeley opposed, refusing him a commision, 
on account of his known popular principles. Nathaniel Bacon 
was a young and wealthy planter, on the banks of the James 
river, who, born in England during the struggle of the demo- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 

cratic revolution, liad received a popular inclination of his 
principles. He was quick of apprehension, brave, choleric, 
yet not without discretion ; of pleasant address and power- 
ful elocution ; and by all these qualities a great favorite with 
the people of Virginia. It is not strange, therefore, that ho 
should resolve on action without Berkeley's leave ; and the 
people, ripened for insurrection by the abuses in the adminis- 
tration we have just related, flocked to his standard. He 
took up arms at the next incursion of the Indians, when 
Berkeley rashly proclaimed him and his followers rebels, and 
levied troops against them. But Bacon pursued his own 
course, and the continuing Indian war at length compelled 
Berkeley to give way. The long-lived assembly, elected at 
the epoch of the Eestoration, sixteen years before, was dis- 
solved ; and a new one was elected, in which Bacon himself 
was returned a member. This assembly is memorable for the 
counter revolution displayed in its legislation, which broke up 
the church aristocracy, restored the elective franchise to the 
people, reformed the arbitrary laws of taxation, and demanded 
a commission for Bacon, as leader against the Indians. 

Berkeley with difficulty yielded most of these things to the 
irresistible force of the new assembly ; but he refused to sign 
the commission for Bacon, to which insane decision he held 
fast until Bacon withdrew from the assembly, and reappeared 
with 500 armed men. 

It is a curious coincidence that the ratification of the ne.w 
legislation was com.pleted on July 4th, 1676; exactly one 
hundred years before the grand Declaration of Independence 
of England, written by a son of Virginia, began a new era in 
the history of human liberty. I 

All would now have gone on well, but for the petulance of 
Berkeley ; for Bacon's measures against the Indians, restored 
security and peace. But the old cavalier violated an amnesty 



48 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

wliich had been proclaimed on the 4th of July, and summon- 
ing a new convention, even against its advice, proclaimed 
Bacon a traitor. 

This was the signal for civil war. Berkeley was deposed 
by the party which rallied around Bacon, and which included 
the most eminent men in the colony, with Drummond at their 
head, who had formerly been made by Berkeley himself, 
Governor of North Carolina. A new convention was called, 
and Virginia was completely revolutionized ; government be- 
ing reestablished on the basis of popular power. England was 
engaged at this time between the rival factions for the Duke 
of York and the Duke of Monmouth, and did not interfere. 

But Berkeley withdrew beyond the Chesapeake, where he 
collected a band of desperadoes eager for plunder. He prom- 
ised to all slaves immediate freedom if they would join his 
banner; and with these and some Indians, and by the aid of 
all the English vessels in the harbor, he sailed down to James- 
town, which was the only village in Virginia ; and there he 
landed and took possession. 

Bacon learnt this just as he had disbanded his troops, after 
a successful expedition agaiust the Indians. He immediately 
rallied his followers, and hastened to Jamestown, (securing as 
hostages the wives and children of the royalists who lived on 
the way). He threw up an intrenchment, and the royalists 
fled to their fleet. It was determined in the council of the 
insurgents, to burn Jamestown, that it might not again afford 
shelter for the royalists ; and Drummond and Lawrence set 
fire to their own houses, which were the finest in the place, 
and the State-house and the church were also consumed. 
Bacon then pursued the royalist army, and the troops of 
Berkeley came over to his party. Thus victory was gained 
without a battle. 

But at this critical moment, Bacon, the victorious, was 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

seized witli a sudden sickness and died. Thus the liberal 
party was left without a head ; while, at the same time, the 
royalists found a good leader in Eohert Beverley, who, having 
possession of the ships in the river, restored the supremacy of 
the governor, by a continued war in detail. 

The vindictiveness of Berkeley was frightful. Twenty -two 
gentlemen vf ere hanged, and the carnage was only stopped at 
last, by a remonstrance from the very assembly he had con- 
vened, one of whom said "he would have hanged half the col- 
ony, had we not stopped him !" A public proclamation of 
Charles II., also censured his conduct. Bancroft reports the 
king to have said, " the old fool has taken away more lives in 
that naked country, than I, for the murder of my father!" 

But the memory of Bacon was maligned. To speak or 
write in favor of the rebels or the rebellion, was made, if 
thrice repeated, evidence of treason ; and to speak ill of 
Berkeley or his friends, was punished by whipping or a fine. 
Thus, the true history of Bacon's rebellion was not made 
known till the nineteenth century. 

Berkeley returned to England immediately, and was so 
unpopular with all parties, that guns were fired, and bonfires 
were kindled at his departure ; and before he had an opportu- 
nity to wait on the king, the unfavorable report from America 
so agitated him, that his brother ascribed to it his death, which 
occurred soon after. 

The royalist power was now paramount in Virginia, and the 
tyranny and exactions of Berkeley's successors, Culpepper 
and Lord Howard of Effingham, to whom it was granted for 
thirty years, checked voluntary emigration and depressed 
industry. Every act of Bacon's assembly was repealed, ex- 
cept the single bad one, permitting the enslavement of Indians. 
Every measure of reform was made void, and every aristo- 
cratic feature of the legislation of Berkeley's time, perpetua- 
8 



50 CHROKOLOGICAL HISTORY 

ted. Instead of volunteer emigrants, tlie prisoners made in 
the conquest of Monmouth's rebellion, and by the judicial con- 
victions of the cruel Jeffries in James II. 's reign, were sent 
out and sold as slaves, for a period of ten years. It is 
remarkable how large a portion of the original Virginians were 
indented slaves. 

But there were fountains of liberty left in Virginia, not- 
withstanding all. There were no cities ; and the planters 
lived independently in their log-houses, on their plantations. 
And being far from courts, they thought and felt freely, as was 
proved by the views made manifest in the middle of the next 
century. 

When William and Mary acceded, no essential improve- 
ment took place in political affairs. Sir Edmund Andros, 
fresh from imprisonment in Massachusetts, was, strange to say, 
the first governor that William sent out, and Nicolson the 
next. 

No free developments of the constitution could take place 
under such men. The Virginians, however, found means to 
express their independence of mind by passive resistance. 
They would not vote money, on rec[uisition of the governor, 
and refused to contribute means for the French wars. 

In 1691, Nicolson established the college of William and 
Mary, fifty -five years after the Pilgrims had established Har- 
vard College. This was certainly an advance on Berkeley's 
time, who, twenty years before, wrote thus : " I thank God 
there are no free schools or printing; and I hope we shall not 
have any these hundred years ; for learning has "brought diso- 
bedience, and heresy, and sects into the world; and printing 
has divulged them." 

But this college was an aristocratic institution, after all. 
There was no free general education for the -people^ organ- 
ized; nor has there been, even to this day. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 

N.B — It will be seen that Bancroft is my authority through- 
OTit ; and I shall deem it success, if I induce the reading of his 
original work, written in a style so calculated to the imagina- 
tion of youth. Students should also look into a State history 
of Virginia, and read lives of distinguished Virginians, for per- 
sonal anecdotes. They will find, that, unlike other sciences, 
history is more easily remembered, when its great events are 
associated with little details and anecdotes, that seize the im- 
agination. The mind must be humored and feel free, if it 
would remember permanently. The memory has peculiar 
relations with the affections. We remember what we love or 
hate. Hence the importance of looking out personal circum- 
stances and anecdotes, with a view of interesting ourselves, 
rather than charging the mind with the duty of remembering. 
Lippincott's Cabinet Library of the Histories of each of the 
States, should form a part of every school library; and for 
quite young children, a History of the United States, by Miss 
A. B. Berard, makes a pleasing reading book. 



LESSON VIII. — Questions on Virginia. 

Who were the distinguished persons engaged in the colo- 
nization of Jamestown % Describe the scene on James river, 
May 23, 1607 % Why were the capes, river, and town so 
named % What former attempt at colonization had Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold made % Tell all about it. What do you re- 
member of Weymouth's voyage in 1605 ? Who now patron- 
ized and paid for the outfit of the colony to Jamestown? 
Was the attempt well organized 1 What were the first diffi- 
culties 1 Why did they not return to England at once ? How 
came Captain John Smith to be put at the head of affairs % 



52 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Give the history of Captain John Smith, up to this time.* 
What did he do in America 1 How did he fall into the hands 
of the Indians 1 How was he saved from destruction 1 What 
advantages grew out of the whole affair ? How came Poca- 
hontas to he a captive of the English ? How came she to be 
married to John E,olfe ? What was her subsequent history ? 
Describe the Indian war that took place after her death. 
Describe the Indian war of 1644 ? Was there at that time 
Indian war anywhere else, but in Virginia ? Was the colony 
self-governed, at first ? What was the government ? How 
did Captain Smith organize the social life of the emigrants 1 
What were the causes of '' the starvation time 1" How came 
there to be a new emigration, under Lord De la War ? How 
did Lord De la War commence 1 Was the community-organ- 
ization continued '? What was the daily routine ? How came 
martial law to be soon after introduced, by Sir Thomas Dale ? 
Why was private property established? What change of 
charter and measures was the consequence of the new pros- 
perity that ensued? What plant was cultivated as early as 
1615, as the staple of the colony ? How came jpopular 
rights to be suggested ? What difSculties arose ? How 
did these issue in 1619 ? What effect on the increase of 
emigration had this legislative liberty "? What is told of the 
emigration of women ? What great advantage was secured 
in 1621 1 Was negro slavery yet established in Virginia ? 
How did it begin, and when ? How did Charles I. treat Vir- 
ginia 1 and with what effect 1 How did Cromwell treat 
Virginia ? What was the social condition of Virginia, in the 
middle of the seventeenth century ? What was the govern- 
ment under " the commonwealth ?" What governor did the 

* For some pupils this question would need to be analyzed by the 
teacher into many. But it is a good plan to require of such as are capa- 
ble to tell the whole story. It teaches the art of graceful narration. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 

people elect ? "What does this choice show 1 and how did 
Berkeley act 1 How came the E-estoration of the Stuarts to 
be hailed with joy '? What changes did Sir William Berkeley 
make 1 What measures showed the character of the new 
assembly, elected at this time 1 But what action of the Bri- 
tish government alarmed this new assembly ? What unwise 
measure did it take for redress ? How did Berkeley employ 
himself in England'? What changes did this aristocratic 
assembly make in the government and laws of Virginia'? 
How long did it sit '? What was the occasion of Bacon's re- 
bellion '? What caused the Indian war of 1676 '? How came 
a quarrel to arise with Berkeley '? What had been the history 
of Nathaniel Bacon, hitherto ? What was his character and 
influence 1 Why did he rise in insurrection 1 How came a 
new assembly to be elected "? What changes did this assem- 
bly make '? Did Berkeley agree "? How did Bacon get an 
appointment as General '? When was the new legislation 
ratified ? How did Berkeley drive the insurrection into civil 
war ? Why did not England interfere 1 How did Berkeley 
get an army? What was the course and end of the war? 
How came the supremacy of the Governor to be presently 
restored? What were the consequences to the insurgents ] 
and to the memory of Bacon? What became of Berkeley? 
What reaction took place in the legislation? W^hat check 
was there on voluntary emigration after this ? By what 
means was the population increased ? What fountains of 
liberty were left in Virginia ? Who were the first governors 
under William and Mary ? How did the Virginians express 
their sentiment of independence ? When was the college of 
William and Mary founded ? What speech had Berkeley 
made about schools and the press ? What happened in Vir- 
ginia in 1607 ? 1608? 1613? 1622? 1644? 1676? 1691? 



54 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

NEW-NETHERLANDS, 1615. NEW-YORK, 1664. 

It is a cnrious coincidence, that, in tlie same year that 
Jamestown was settled by the English, the Dutch formed a 
company for exploring America. Bancroft, in his fifteenth 
chapter, gives an account of their early discoveries and trad- 
ings in America ; when Henry Hudson discovered the river, 
called sometimes by his name, and sometimes North E-iver ; 
and where, probably, they built a fort on Manhattan Island 
in 1614. But on an island just below Albany, they undoubt- 
edly built Fort Orange in 1615. He also tells how in 1620, 
the same year in which the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, 
Cornelius Mey, entering Delaware bay, one of whose capes 
still bears his name, sailed up the river Delaware, which he 
called the South E/iver, and built, just below the site of Cam- 
den, Fort Nassau. From this time the whole country between 
the rivers, was called by the Dutch, New Netherlands ; and 
they even stretched the name to Cape Cod, subsequently build- 
ing a fort on the Connecticut river, which they called The 
Good Hope. 

The first governor was Peter Minuets, who established 
himself in a new block house on Manhattan Island, in the 
midst of windmills and cottages with straw roofs, calling the 
place New Amsterdam ; and initiating an experiment in 
feudal institutions, of which there are some traces yet to be 
found in the constitution of society in New York. 

To perfectly understand this statement, it is necessary to 
have some idea of the political constitution of the United Pro- 
vinces of Holland, which did not, although it was a Republic, 
permit what we call popular liberty ; or even that degree of 
it which the English always claimed, although their kings did 
not always allow it. 

But the student must go for this knowledge to the Fifteenth 



OF THE UNITED STATES. OO 

Cliapter of Bancroft : it is enougli to say here, that it natu- 
rally followed from their Dutch origin, that New Netherlands 
should be divided into lordships. Every man who, within 
four years, would plant a colony of fifty souls, might possess 
a tract of land, extending sixteen miles in length, or eight 
miles each side of a river, in absolute property ; and was de- 
nominated a patroon. It was stipulated, however, that he 
should purchase his lands of the Indians, and not take posses- 
sion of them violently. The patroon was to exercise judi- 
cial power in his domain, but subject to appeals ; and he might 
institute the government of any cities that should grow up. 
No provision was made for schools or churches, but they were 
" spoken of as desirable." The Dutch company, which was 
the final court of judicial appeal from the patroons, promised 
to furnish the m.anors with negroes, if the traffic should prove 
sufficiently lucrative ; and reserved the Island of Manhattan 
as their own chosen seat of commerce. The Dutch spirit of 
monopoly forbade the colonists to make any linen or cotton 
fabric ; " not a web might be Vv^oven, not a shuttle be thrown, 
on penalty of exile." 

Of course, the agents of the colony, within the prescribed 
four years, appropriated to themiselves the most valuable part 
of New Netherlands, becoming patroons at once. Van Ren- 
salaer, for instance, then bought by his agent, his extensive 
domain, stretching from Albany to twelve miles below the 
mouth of the Mohawk. Lands were occupied in Delaware, 
which, however, were soon reconquered by the Indians ; also, 
on the Connecticut, which were retained by the Dutch long 
after they were surrounded by the English settlers. 

In 1643-4, New-Netherlands was desolated hj an Indian 
war. This arose from private revenge on both sides. In a 
drunken brawl, a white man had been murdered by the E-ari- 
tans. Kieft, the Dutch Governor, demanded him of his tribe. 



66 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

The chiefs offered two hundred fathoms of best wampum as 
ransom, pleading reasonably, " you yourselves are the cause 
of this evil ; you ought not to craze the young Indians with 
brandy ; your own people, when drunk, fight with knives, 
and do foolish things ; you cannot prevent mischief till you 
cease to sell strong drink to the Indian." But Kieft was in- 
exorable. To complicate the difficulty a tribe of Mohawks 
descended from the mountains, and claimed the Haritans as 
their tributaries. They begged the Dutch to defend them. 
But the ruthless governor, instead of giving them assistance, 
had an hundred of them murdered at once in cold blood. At 
this, all the Algonquin tribes burst forth in revenge ; laying 
waste villages, n?urdering the farmers in their fields, carrying 
children into captivity, and even driving multitudes of the 
timid householders home to Holland. In one of these massa- 
cres, was murdered the famous Ann Hutchinson, who had been 
banished from Massachusetts for taking the '* liberty of pro- 
phesying." 

But the war lasted only a few weeks. E-oger Williams, 
who happened to be in Manhattan, on his way to England, 
succeeded to bring about a temporary peace ; and, in 1645, a 
more extensive peace was made with the Biver chiefs, and 
chiefs of New Jersey and Long Island, by the mediation of 
the chiefs of the Five Nations. On this occasion, a sentence 
of infamy was passed upon Kieft, who, two years after, em- 
barked for Holland in a vessel laden with riches. But 
he never reached home. His vessel was wrecked on the 
coast of Wales, and the infamous governor was buried in the 
waters. 

New Netherlands, in the middle of the seventeenth century 
presented a much less attractive appearance than the English 
colonies of Connecticut, Hhode Island, Massachusetts, Mary- 
land or Virginia ; and, in the time of the fourth governor 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 

Stuyvesant, a struggle commenced of tlie emigrants witli the 
Dutcli company, for privileges of free trade. And these were 
obtained, with such remarkable consequences, that the mer- 
chants of Amsterdam, who so reluctantly granted them, began 
to see the future ; — prophesying, three hundred years ago, in 
this wise : " when your commerce becomes established, and 
your ships ride on every part of the ocean, throngs that look 
towards you with eager eyes, will be allured to embark for 
your island." 

In 1655, while Stuyvesant was still Governor, New Nether- 
lands conquered New Sweden, which had grown up on the 
banks of the Delaware, on territory which the Dutch claimed 
as a part of their colony. The origin and history of this 
Swedish colony must be told here. 

In 1626, about a dozen years after the first settling of New- 
Netherlands, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, projected a col- 
ony in America, on a cosmopolitan scale, which he hoped 
would prove an " advantage to oppressed Christendom," a 
" security to the wives and daughters of those whom wars and 
bigotry had made fugitives." He subscribed 400,000 thalers 
to encourage colonization, and called the scheme " the jewel of 
his kingdom." But the whole thing was delayed by the 
bursting out of the Thirty Years War (the grand struggle of 
the Protestant States of Germany against the Catholic, for 
supremacy, of which Gustavus Adolphus was made the Gen- 
eral-in-chief.) To this war he was obliged to give his money 
and energies ; but just before the battle of Liitzen, in 1632, 
in which he lost his life, he recommended this colonization 
scheme to the States of Germany, assembled at Nuremberg. 
Oxenstierna, the regent guardian of Christina, who succeeded 
Gustavus as sovereign of Sweden, did not let the scheme of 
his beloved master drop, but fitted out a company of emi- 
3* 



58 . CHEONOLGGICAL HISTORY 

grants with two vessels, a religious teacher, and merchandise 
for traffic with the Indians. 

It was in 1638 that this little company of Swedes and 
Finns entered Delaware bay, and bought of the natives a 
tract of land, extending from Paradise point, as they called 
Cape May, to the falls near the city of Trenton ; and near 
these falls they erected a fort, which they named for the young 
queen Christina. 

This was the only American colony of this century, in 
which was made an express provision against slavery. They 
said in their constitution, " Slaves cost a great deal, labor with 
reluctance, and soon perish from hard usage. The Swedish 
nation is laborious and intelligent, and surely we shall gain 
more by a free people with wives and children." Good ac- 
counts of the country were carried home* and a hundred 
families embarked at once, composed of the peasantry of 
Finland and Sweden. One of the suburbs of Philadelphia 
owed its origin to this increasing emigration. 

But Kieft, then governor of New-Netherlands, protested 
against this occupation of lands, which the Dutch had included 
in New-Netherlands. He was afraid, however, to assail a 
colony of Sweden, whose power was at that time paramount 
in Europe, by reason of its early success in the Thirty Years 
War. But after the treaty of Westphalia, which closed that 
war, in the time of Stuyvesant, a more active protest was 
made. The Dutch built a hostile fort at the mouth of the 
Brandywine, which the Swedish governor, ^Rising, attacked 
and overpowered. Immediately, Stuyvesant, collecting a force 
of 600 men, sailed into the Delaware, and conquered, one 
after another, all the Swedish forts. The Swedes could do 
nothing but submit. Oxenstierna, their patron, was no more ; 
and Sweden itself had ceased to be a formidable power in 
Europe. In the final adjustment, Eising obtained the conces- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 

sion of their estates to such colonists as would remain quiet. 
Bancri^ft, who gives the history of this colony in his Fifteenth 
Chapter, says, '* it maintained its distinct existence for a little 
more than sixteen years. * * -* At the surrender, they did 
not much exceed seven hundred. Free from ambition, ignorant 
of the ideas which were convulsing the English mind, it was 
only as Protestants that they shared the impulse of the age. 
They cherished the calm earnestness of religious feeling ; 
they reverenced the bonds of family and the purity of morals ; 
their children, under every disadvantage of want of teachers 
and of Swedish books, were well instructed. With the na- 
tives they preserved peace. A love for their dear native 
country, the abiding sense of loyalty towards it sovereign, 
continued to distinguish the little band. At Stockholm they 
remained for a century the objects of a disinterested and gen- 
erous regard ; afPection united them in the New World ; and 
a part of their descendants still preserve their altar and their 
dwellings, round the graves of their forefathers," 

The same measure that the Dutch measured to the Swedes, 
was in less than ten years m.eled to them by the English, 
who had never allowed the Dutch claim to settle on the lands 
that they had, in the century before named as part of Vir- 
ginia. When Charles the II. was restored to the throne of his 
fathers, and was portioning out the Atlantic coast into princi- 
palities, wholly ignoring the actual settlement of the Dutch in 
New Netherlands, he granted to the Duke of York, (afterwards 
James 11.) , the whole of New Netherlands, from the South to 
the North E-iver. Consequently, in 1664, the Duke of York 
sent one Captain Nichols to take possession of it. Gov. Stuy- 
vesant vf as already engaged in disputes with the English set- 
tlers of Connecticut, about the Dutch fort of Good Hope, at 
Hartford; and had found his greatest difficulty to be the incli- 
nation of the New Netherlanders themselves to go under the 



60 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Englisli rule. The New Netlierlanders were not merely 
Dutchmen; but Germans, Jews, Frenchmen, Huguenots, and 
even English had settled among them, encouraged by the com- 
mercial policy of the Dutch Company ; and this motley collec- 
tion were restive to see the English colonies, with political 
institutions of so much greater freedom than their own. Mr. 
Bancroft, in his 15th chapter, gives a very intelligible account 
of the rise of the popular element against the aristocracy of 
the Patroons, as w^ell as against the arbitrary rule of the Dutch 
Company, who saw everything as merchants calculating for 
gains, rather than as men sympathizing in the assertion of 
human rights. It was not, therefore, strange that the colony 
should compel Stuy vesant to surrender the government to the 
Duke of York's agent, which he did do ; and New Netherlands 
became New York without effusion of blood. 

But the change took place at an unlucky moment. James 
11. was a tyrant by instinct and principle. He did not give to 
New York institutions such as had been secured to Connecti- 
cut, Ehode Island, and Massachusetts, by the Puritans. The 
English crown had been for some years consolidating all the 
colonies from Maryland to the St. Croix, under Sir Edmund 
Andros ; and no popular representation was allowed to New 
York till 1684, when Dongan was Governor ; nor even then 
did the administration answer the hopes of the people. 

In 1688, therefore, the province rose, and, with Jacob Leisler, 
a German merchant, at their head, deposed the royal governor, 
and instituted a government of their own ; not doubting that 
William and Mary would sanction it as legitimate. But Wil- 
liam listened to the representations of the tory party ; and, 
acting as king of England, not as Stadt holder of Holland, he 
sent out a new governor, as well as a new commander of the 
fort. These persons immediately arrested both Leisler and 
his son-in-law, Milbourne; and, because they hesitated to obey 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 

the summons to surrender at once, accused tliem of liigli trea- 
son, and liad them executed, with the concurrence of the tory 
assembly. The assembly, however, did itself assert the right 
to representative government, and, during all the rest of the 
century, the contest for popular rights went on with successive 
royal governors. Not till 1698, when the Irish Earl of Belle- 
mont became governor, and somewhat tranquillized the colony 
by his sympathy with popular tendencies, did the provincial 
Assembly and the English Parliament concur in making some 
tardy amends to Leisler's memory, by providing for his family. 

Meanwhile, in 1665, New Jersey, and in 1681, Delaware, 
had been successively set off from New York, and made into 
separate governments, as will be more particularly told here- 
after. 

The Indian Wars, and the action of the Five Nations espe- 
cially, give a good deal of romance to the history of New 
York, in the last century. Let the Student who is able, con- 
sult the XVII Chapter of Bancroft for particulars of this. 
He there proves that the colony was largely indebted to the 
Five Nations, for keeping the French on the northern side of 
the Saint Lawrence. 

In Chapter XIX, the political Student may also pursue 
the history of New York into the 18th century, and see how 
it was educated by the arbitrariness of the English Govern- 
ment,* for the democratic struggle of the Bevolution. 

LESSON IX. — ^New Netherlands, New Sweden and 

New York. 

What did the Dutch do about exploring America in 1607 ? 
Where did they settle in 1614—15? What did Cornelius 

*For a lively picture of the manners and customs of the Dutch Society of 
New York State, see also, Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs of an American lady." 



62 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Mey do, in 1620 ? Where was The Good Hope'hiiilt ? Who 
■was the first Dutch Governor 1 What did the Dutch claim 
as New Netherlands 1 What did they call their settlement 
on Manhattan Island 1 How were the colonies to be consti- 
tuted 1 What was the privilege of a Patroon, and on what 
condition ? What laws did the Dutch Company make for the 
colonists, and what did it pledge itself to do for them? What 
place did it retain, as the seat of its own commerce 1 Who 
occupied the lands as Patroons ? What was the extent of 
the settlements *? What was the cause and history of the In- 
dian War of 1643 — 4 1 What remarkable person was killed 
in these wars 1 What political struggle did the colonists have 
in Governor Stuyvesant's time, and with what result 1 What 
conquest did 'New Netherlands make in 1655 ? 

When and how and where was New Sweden settled 1 By 
whom and when was this colony projected, and with what 
motives ? Why was it delayed, and who finally set it going ? 
How did Kieft and Stuyvesant severally act towards the 
Swedish colony? What was the result of Stuyvesant's energy ? 
How does Bancroft characterize this Swedish colony ? 
What was the immediate occasion of the surrender of New 
Netherlands to the English 1 What was the real cause of this 
revolution 1 What advantage was it to the people, to change 
from Dutch to English rule ? Who appointed the first Eng- 
lish Governors and how 1 When was the first popular assem- 
bly allowed ? What revolution occurred in New York in 
1688, and what was its issue ? Were the subsequent royal 
governors satisfactory to the people ? What was the action 
of the Earl of Bellemont I What happened in 1615 1 1620 ? 
1645 ? 1655 1 How are these events represented and why ? 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 

Massachusetts. 

On December, 1620, a single sliip, holding 101 emigrants, 
disembarked its company on the Plymoutli rock. The name 
of the ship was the Mayflower. The emigrants were THE 
PILGEIMS. It was a company of English Puritans, who, 
thirteen years before, had emigrated to Holland. 

In the year 1607 (the very year that Jamestown was set- 
tled), the church of John E-obinson in England, being beset 
and watched, night and day, by the agents of the government, 
punishing them for their nonconformity to the established 
Church of England, resolved to seek in exile, exemption from 
persecution. Their first attempt was frustrated ; the whole 
company being arrested, and all detained for a month ; seven 
of them much longer. Another attempt made the next year, 
proved hardly more fortunate ; for as one part of their num- 
ber were going off to the ship in a boat, a company of horse- 
men appeared, and seized the women and children, who were 
waiting on the shore for its return. The poor creatures, how- 
ever, having no homes to which they could be sent, were pre- 
sently set free from prison, and after incredible sufferings and 
delay, joined their Mends in Holland. 

There, in the city of Leyden, the English Puritans were 
formed into a church, under the pastoral care of their minister 
Hobinson. They attained among the Dutch the highest repu- 
tation for industry and virtue. But they were not content to 
have their children brought up Dutchmen. They deprecated 
the merely commercial character, and early began to think of 
finding in America a homestead, where the best seeds of their 
English nationality might germinate, and be watered by Puri- 
tan Christianity. 

Mr. Bancroft in his eighth chapter, gives the history of the 
developm.ent of Puritanism in England, with a vivid picture 



64 chro:n"ological history 

of the civil affairs of that country at this time ; and those who 
read it will be surprised that the Puritans should hope to get 
a PATENT from King James, for establishing dissent, even in 
a distant colony. But they could promise to promote the fish- 
ing interest ; and, by this means, mainly, after many unsuc- 
cessful negotiations, they at length formed a partnership w^ith 
some men of business in London, who were to send them to 
America. The terms were these : the services of each emi- 
grant were reckoned as a capital of ten pounds, and belonged 
to the London Company, All profits were to be reserved till 
the end of seven years, when the whole amount, and all the 
houses and lands, were to be divided equally among the 
shareholders. 

It was not a very brilliant prospect; but the spirit that ani- 
mated this colony, was not commerce, but religion. They 
went to plant a church in the wilderness. On the eve of their 
departure from Ley den, they held a fast, and E-obinson 
preached a sermon, " breathing a freedom of opinion, and an 
independence of authority," says Bancroft, *''such as was 
then hardly known in the world." " I charge you before God 
and his blessed angels," said he, " that you follow me no 
further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy 
word. * * * I beseech you to remember it, — 'tis an arti- 
cle of your church covenant, — that you be ready to receive 
whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written 
word of Grod." 

" When the ship was ready to carry us away," wrote Edward 
Winslow, " the brethren that stayed in Leyden, having again 
solemnly sought the Lord for us, and with us, feasted us that 
were to go, at our pastor's house — being large ; where we 
refreshed ourselves, after tears, with singing of psalms — mak- 
ing joyful melody in our hearts, as well as with the voice, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 

there being many of the congregation very expert in music ; 
and indeed it was tlie sweetest melody tliat ever mine ears 
heard. After this they accompanied us to Delft Haven, 
where we went to embark ; and then feasted ns again, and 
after prayer, performed by our pastor, when a flood of tears 
was poured out, they accompanied us to the ship ; but we 
were not able to speak one to another, for the abundance of 
sorrow to part." 

Ill the Eotunda of the Capitol at Washington, is a picture 
of this parting scene ; Eobinson at prayer ; and the dis- 
tinguished persons of the colony represented with great care, 
according to the truth of history ; though upon the deck of 
the vessel, instead of at his house. 

Two vessels started at first ; but one put back ; their inten- 
tion was to go to the Hudson, but they came to land at Cape 
Cod ; and after some days exploring for a more propitious and 
inviting spot, they landed at Plymouth. 

They had constituted their government, while yet on board 
ship ; electing John Carver, governor, having covenanted and 
combined themselves together into a civil body politic, to 
enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, constitu- 
tions and offices, as should be thought most convenient for the 
general good, — for they had undertaken the enterprize " for 
the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Church." 

Every detail of the early history of the first Pilgrim colony 
has an interest. But we cannot dwell on them. By the 
spring, one half of the company was dead by hardship. For 
three years they were constantly liable to starvation ; and 
once were reduced to four or five kernels of parched corn for 
a meal.* Neat cattle were not brought into the colony till the 

* When the ship arrived from England which relieved them from this 
extreme distress, they instituted the Festival of Thanksgiving, which is 
still held annually. 



6Q CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

fourth year of the settlement. At first the labor and prop- 
erty were in common ; but in a few years it were seen that sep- 
arate property and labor was more satisfactory and profitable ; 
and as they soon showed more skill than the Indians did in 
cultivating corn, the Indians abandoned its culture for the 
chase, and bought their corn of the settlers. 

The Pilgrims had no plan of seizing land from the Indians 
without paying for it. But it happened that a pestilence had 
desolated the country a few years before their arrival ; .and 
thus they found an open field for settlement. At first, some 
Indians had approached them, and then fled ; and they had 
prepared for hostility. Miles Standish had organized a mili- 
tary force, and took occasion to display its formidable charac- 
ter. Soon after, the chief of the Wamponoags mustered cour- 
age to make them a visit, and say, " Englishmen, welcome." 
The shyness of the Indians had arisen from the traditions of 
the violences of the early discoverers. Their confidence pro- 
bably arose from their observation of the different purposes 
and character of the new settlers, whom they now told to take 
possession of the depopulated regions. Massasoit, chief of the 
"Wampanoags, always remained their friend. Canonicus, chief 
of the Narragansetts, was more suspicious, and at one time 
sent to Governor Bradford a rattle-snake's skin, full of arrows. 
Governor Bradford sent it back filled with powder and shot, 
and Canonicus was awed into harmlessness. In three years, 
a colony being sent out to Weymouth by the London Com- 
pany, rather in recklessness of the rights of the Plymouth 
settlers, and which got into trouble with the Indians, was mag- 
nanimously defended by Miles Standish, with his little com- 
pany ; and this doubtless made a salutary impression upon the 
Indians of the nature of the English power. 

This "Weymouth colony, which failed in a year, and was 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 

dispersed,* was only one proof of the want of good faitli of 
the London Company. When Robinson and the rest of the 
Church of Leyden, asked for assistance to get to America, the 
Company refused it, and the venerable pastor died in Europe. 
At last, however, the English Company were bought out by 
eight of the most enterprising of the colonists, who took as pay 
a six year's monopoly of the trading interest. After that, the 
common property being equally divided, and agriculture fairly 
established, the cultivators became really freeholders. 

It was an anomalous government, virtually independent, for 
they were without a king's patent. Their institutions found 
"the guarantee of their stability," as Bancroft says, " only in 
their individual virtues." The whole body of the male inhab- 
itants constituted the legislature, until their settlements were 
so far extended as to suggest the representative system. The 
Governor was chosen by universal suffrage. The perseverance 
of the colony in the midst of its hardships and deprivations, is 
to be ascribed wholly to the earnestness of the religious im- 
pulse which created it. It is one of the most remarkable 
proofs that lie on the page of history, that a truly strong state 
may be derived purely from the spiritual element. In the 
same year that the Pilgrims planted themselves in America, 
intent on the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and trust- 
ing in God that all material things would be added thereto, the 
first factory was built by the East India Company at Madras. 
Not three centuries have yet passed away, and the contrast of 
the Empire of the United States of America and that of the 
British East Indies, records God's judgment on the two enter- 
prises. Spiritual wisdom could have read the writing even in 
1620 ; but it now glares, in letters of light, upon the senses of 

*See "The Maypole of Merry Monnt," in Hawthorne's Twice-told 
Tales. 



QS CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tlie blindest materialist. And this is not the only comparison 
and analogous lesson that the date of 1620 suggests. When 
Charles the First came upon the throne of England, a patent 
passed the great seals, incorporating another company, to en- 
courage emigration, which was called the Company of Massa- 
chusetts Bay. This company's charter gave liberty to the 
members to elect a governor and eighteen assistants annually ; 
and to hold a legislative assembly, in which every stockholder 
should have a vote, whose acts should be valid without refer- 
ring them to the King. No restriction Avas put upon religious 
freedom by this charter, but there was no guarantee of it. Not 
a word was said about emigrants who were not stockholders, to 
whom, of course, was granted not a single franchise. 

But the company was a remarkable one. It contained 
among its members John White, of Dorchester, and John En- 
dicott, John Winthrop, Wm. Coddingtou, Dudley, Johnson, 
Pynchon, Eaton, and Saltonstall ; and among its friends were 
the Earl of Warwick and Sir Ferdinand Gorges. They wer® 
most of them persons who wanted room to act themselves out 
according to their consciences. And on the grant of power 
made to them, the freemen of Massachusetts succeeded in 
erecting an independent representative government. For 
Matthew Bradock, the first governor of the company, pro- 
posed that the privileges of this charter should be conferred 
upon the emigrants themselves, and this induced a large part 
of the company itself to emigrate. John Endicott, for in- 
stance, carried a colony of 300 to Salem in 1628 ; John Win- 
throp carried a colony of 1500 to Charlestown in 1629, which 
moved over to Boston in 1630. 

It would be interesting to give some details of the colony 
of Salem, actually planted by Boger Conant, and only 
strengthened by John Endicott ; and of Winthrop's colony, 
and also of Sir Peter Bulkeley's, which went to Concord ; and 

(§) 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 

John White's to Dorchester. Everybody should read Win- 
throp's Journal, as well as Morton's memorial of Plymouth, 
Mrs. Child's tale of Hobomok, and many of Hawthorne's 
tales* which illustrate these times with great power, and put 
their essence into the memory through the imagination and 
heart. 

There is, however, one scene, which deserves especially 
to be described, — as it exemplifies the principle of what may 
be considered the distinctive American church, and discrimi- 
nates it not only from the Catholic church of St. Augustine, 
and the Episcopal church of Jamestown, but even from the 
Plymouth church, which were all branches of European 
churches. Every member of the Salem church had indi- 
vidually been a member of some English church ; but 
what is remarkable, — when they had assembled at a little 
spring, which yet flows to supply the Salem Town Pump, 
they all gathered round it, and taking hold of hands, formally 
resolved that they were "plain unvarnished men," and "mem- 
bers of no visible church on earth ;" they then resolved, that, 
being gathered in Jesus' name, and believing themselves to 
bje redeemed by his blood, they were of the invisible church 
of Christ, and therefore competent to form a visible body, 
representative of it. They then proceeded to choose their 
teacher, Mr. Higginson, and their pastor Mr. Sheldon, both of 
whom had been educated for the ministry, and the brethren laid 
their hands on their heads, as an original ordaining power. 
At this stage of the proceedings, Governor Bradford arrived, 
having come across the bay to offer the right hand of fellow- 
ship in behalf of the Plymouth Church. They paused to 
to hear his message and replied, that if he offered it as an act 
of fraternal love, they accepted it gladl}^, but if he or his 

* For instance, Grandfather's Chair, and Endicott and his men. 



70 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

churcli tlionglit to found any autlaority upon it, to interfere, 
ever, in tlieir cliurcli concerns, tliej must decline it. Governor 
Bradford made the necessary disclaimers, and the ceremonies 
were closed with mutual satisfactions. Thus was Indepen- 
dency initiated in New England, which, however, has never 
been fully developed into a practical system, except in the 
Baptist churches. Roger "Williams was subsequently a pastor 
of this church of Salem, and he carried out the principle 
fully in the church he founded afterwards in Providence, E.. 
I., developing into full self-consciousness the separation of 
Church and State which was hidden within it. 

Massachusetts had, in 1830, every political freedom it has 
now, except universal suffrage ; but these blessings were re- 
stricted to members of Churches. This was a point on which 
E,oger Williams first began to differ from his brethren; he 
saw that men were men, before they were Christians, and 
had rights as such. He asserted that the Indians were en- 
titled to all the immunities of freemen, though they were 
heathen. This was logically consistent with the principle 
that Church membership was dependent on a sovereign elec- 
tion to G-race which was not universal. But the Puritans 
thought that they could only be saved from the encroachments 
of the English hierarchy, by making their Church absolute 
sovereign of their state; and their bulwark against that 
enemy, proved a support of their own narrowness and bigotry. 
Their persecution not only of high Churchmen, but of Hoger 
Williams, and the Baptists, and later of the Quakers, de- 
veloped all the evils latent in their arbitrary conservatism. 
This dark side of the Puritan character may be studied in 
Backus's old History of the Baptists of New England, and 
Sewell's History of the Quakers. In the two former works, 
there are most interesting details of the real saintship that 
was exhibited by numbers of the persecuted; and which give 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 

conclusive evidence of tlie reality of spiritual life on 
earth.* 

But the Puritans had their bright side also. In 1636, Har- 
vard College was founded by a gentleman of that name, who 
bequeathed to it half his estate, and all his library. Seven 
years after, the rent of the ferry was granted by the State as 
part of its revenue. It became the subject of benefactions 
from the living and dying. To this institution, and that of 
the Common Schools of New England, established in 1648, 
ten years after, the peculiar character of this portion of the 
United States may be largely referred. It is easy to criticise 
the Puritans. They had two aspects. Terrible towards any 
innovation, which they feared, sometimes causelessly, might 
weaken their independent government, by destroying the unity 
of the people in the religion which was their strength, they 
were a bulwark of safety for all the progress that had been 
actually attained ; — and they showed their good faith, and real 
democracy of character, by securing to posterity an education 
which should enable their children to appreciate, criticise and 
improve upon their fathers in a legitimate way. 

*' They builded better than they knew," because, with all 
their imperfections, they were sincere believers. 

Two dangers assailed the rights of the Massachusetts Colony 
during the 17th century. One was in consequence of the 
persecution of the English Puritans by Archbishop Laud, 
which extended into Massachusetts, whither they fled in great 
numbers. It was he, who moved the formation of a com- 
mission to examine the charter, and revoke any thing in 
it that might be judged prejudicial to the royal prerogative, 
which Charles the I. was now endeavouring to defend and 

* See especially tlie story of Obadiah Holmes in Backus' History of the 
Baptists; wlio suffered a terrible whipping and was so engaged in prayer 
he did not feel it. 



72 CHRONOLOaiCAL HISTORY 

stretcli to tlie degree of absolute power. This aggression was 
stimulated by the discontents of those persecuted by the 
Puritans in Massachusetts ; and by the unchurched people, 
who had no rights. . 

The other danger was from the members of the parent 
Council in England ; who undertook to become proprietors of 
extensive territories. In one of their conventions, they took 
the map, and divided all the country, from the Hudson river 
to Acadia, into shares, distributing them by lot among them- 
selves ! Bancroft dryly remarks that " it was a more diffi- 
cult matter to take possession of their principalities." The 
Council wished to get the king on their side, and in order to 
do this, they offered to give up the charter to him, and wrote 
to Winthrop to send it back. But Massachusetts was true to 
itself, and tke colonists refused to surrender their charter, 
making a powerful statement to the king of the great hazard 
he ran of losing his colony, should he insist upon it. The re- 
monstrance arrived just when he was engaged in his struggle 
with the Scotch Covenanters, and English parliament; and at 
the same time he heard how all the ministers of Massachusetts 
had assembled in Boston, to deliberate on this matter; and 
that six hundred pounds were subscribed" for fortifications, in 
case he should undertake to use force. John Mason, too. Pro- 
prietor of New Hampshire, who was a chief mover of the 
aggressions on the privileges of Massachusetts, died. Thus 
Charles' attention" was turned from the Americans by his 
absorption in his own difficulties in England ; and Massa- 
chusetts was left in peace for twenty years, which was a period 
of great growth. 

When the English Commonwealth superseded Charles I. it 
was naturally favorable to its co-religionists of Massachusetts. 
It proposed to grant them a new charter ; but this was not 
accepted, because that would have involved the loss of the old 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 

one, wliicli Massacliusetts preferred to have confirmed, since 
it would stand, slioiild the Stuarts be restored. They were as 
jealous of the arbitrary authority of the English parliament, 
as of royalty. After Cromwell had conquered Ireland, he 
offered to the colonists beautiful lands in that island if they 
would emigrate ; but they preferred the rugged New England, 
to entering under such an obligation to him. When he had 
conquered Jamaica also ; he offered them that island. But 
though they did not accept his offers, they did not distrust his 
friendship, and he granted them commercial privileges. 

Bancroft, in his X. Chapter, very clearly explains the 
development of democratic liberty in Massachusetts ; and also 
shows how the very measures taken to hold themselves free 
from all encroachments from abroad, tended to develop, within 
their own borders, ecclesiastical tyranny. The Baptist persecu- 
tion took place in 1635-6, and the persecution of the Quakers 
between 1656 and 1659. At the latter date, four martyr- 
doms occurred in Boston; one of the sufferers being Mary 
Dyer.* 

When Charles II. came upon the throne of England, Mas- 
sachusetts was fearful of some trouble. But she declared her 
rights to choose her own magistrates, exercise all legislative, 
judicial, and executive power, to defend herself by force of 
arm.s against aggression, and to resist all parliamentary and 
royal imposition made without her own concurrence, — sending 
commissioners to England to get these things acknowledged, 
and to assure the king — if he would respect their rights — 
of their loyalty. Charles II., by the advice of Lord Claren- 
don, confirmed their charter, but took exception to their 
alledged immunity from royal interference. He required a 

■*See the ballad of Mary Dyer, published among "The Lays of 
Quakerdom." 

4 



74: CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

complete toleration of tlie Clmrcli of England ; an adminis- 
tration of the oatli of allegiance ; the administration of justice 
in his name ; and the elective franchise to be given to every 
inhabitant of competent estate, whether church member or 
not. . He also sent out a commission to enforce his authority. 
The history of the contest which ensued, which was mainly 
verbal, is given in Bancroft, chapter XII. The toleration 
laws took ejffect, but Massachusetts maintained her liberties on 
all the important points. The English court in fact, did not 
dare to test the power of the self-respecting and clear headed 
little colony, which went on prospering. 

In 167o, there were 55,000 English colonists in New Eng- 
land. (There had been in 1637, one great Indian war — the 
Pequod — whose history belongs rather to Connecticut than 
Massachusetts, and will be spoken of by-and-by.) The In- 
dian population was not more than 30,000 ; and it had been 
considerably civilized, at least to such degree as to read and 
write. One Indian youth graduated at Harvard College. 
The most formidable tribe Avere the Narragansetts, where 
Christianity had least spread. King Philip, at the head of 
seven hundred warriors, professed with pride the faith of his 
fathers ; and, being shut in between Connecticut and Ply- 
mouth, awoke to the danger of the extermination of his race. 
Bancroft, gives an interesting account of the manner in which 
he was driven into war, whose disastrous issue he seemed to 
be wise to foresee ; for, he is said to have wept when he heard 
that a white man's blood had been shed, which was the imme- 
diate occasion of the outbreak. Bancroft says, " They rose 
without hope, and, therefore, they fought without mercy. 
Eor them, as a nation, there was no to-morrow." In less than 
a month, Philip was a fugitive among the interior tribes of 
Massachusetts, awakening his brethren to a warfare of exter- 
mination. The war raged a year before the Narragansetts 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 

were destroyed. Philip was killed at last, in a swamp whither 
he had fled, and his only son was sold as a slave in the Ber- 
mudas. The Indians, in this war, burnt the villages of Brook- 
field, Deerfield, Springfield, Lancaster, Medfield, Weymouth, 
Groton, and Marlborough. In the south, Warwick and Provi- 
dence, Northfield and Hadley, were also attacked, the last of 
which was saved by the assistance of GrofPe, the regicide fugi- 
tive, "who dwelt there. The details of these massacres will 
be found in the histories of the towns and States, and in 
Hubbard's Indian Wars. But no story of the war is more 
pathetic than the destruction by the English of the Narra- 
gansetts, whose village was burnt ; and all thei\' old men, 
women and babes, perished by hundreds, in the fire. Simul- 
taneously, with this " war of King Philip," a war in Maine 
broke out of a different origin ; for it was stimulated by the 
French, and will be spoken of by-and-by, in the account of 
the French wars. It was while the war with the Maine 
Indians was still going on, that Edward Eandolph arrived in 
New England to settle the yet unadjusted political relations 
of the colony and mother country. The first effect was the 
separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts, and an 
attempted separation of Maine. But by means of a purchase 
made of the proprietor, by some of the Boston merchants, 
Maine became a dependant province of Massachusetts. It 
cost about 25,000 dollars ! and has formed the basis of many 
large fortunes. 

The great point aimed at by Eandolph, in the interest of 
Charles II. and James IL, was the subversion of the charter 
of Massachusetts, and, in 1684, it was adjudged forfeited ; and 
July 2, 1655, a copy of this judgment was received in Bos- 
ton. Bancroft gives an account of all the negotiations of nine 
years before this act of violence was ventured, so true were 
the Massachusetts people to their traditional rights, and their 



76 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

policy of self-defence. They had deliberately refused to sur- 
render what was now forcibly taken. The first royal governor 
was a degenerate son of New England, Joseph Dudley ; but 
in December, 1686, Sir Edmund Andros, *' glittering in scarlet * 
and lace," landed in Boston, as governor of all New England. 
The despotism of Andros reached nominally from the St. 
Oroix to Maryland, but at present our concern is only with 
Massachusetts, where he had his capital. It was a signal des- 
potism. Not a town-meeting was allowed, except for the 
choice of town officers. None could leave the country without 
a special permit. Probate fees were increased twenty fold ; a 
tax of a penny a pound, and a poll-tax of twenty pence were 
laid. The towns, generally refusing payment, the writ of ha- 
beas corpus was withheld ; all the inhabitants were required 
to take new grants of their lands, and pay for these deeds ex- 
orbitant fees. Lands reserved for the poor were appropriated 
by favorites ; the schools of learning were let to fall into decay. 
E-eligious institutions were impaired for want of support, and 
the Episcopal service was performed in churches taken forcibly 
from the Puritan congregations. E-emonstrances, on ground 
of law, prescription, or natural right, were alike derided. 
*' Do not think the laws of England follow you to the ends of 
the earth," said one. " You have no privilege left you but 
not to be sold as slaves," said another. "Our condition is 
little inferior to absolute slavery," replied the colonists. 
Increase Mather was sent to England as an agent to seek re- 
dress from this preposterous tyranny ; but relief came by the 
English Revolution of 1688. The news of William's invasion 
of England reached Boston on the 4th of April, 1689. See Oh. 
XV. of Bancroft. Andros imprisoned the messenger who first 
announced it. But revolution was already ripe, and could no 
longer be suppressed. Andros himself was taken prisoner, 
and from the balcony of the province house the Insurrection 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 

read a declaration of its sacred right. Simon Bradstreet, tlie 
old governor, of fourscore years, came out to see what was 
passing, and was hailed with a shout, and installed governor.* 

The government of William and Mary, however, disap- 
pointed Massachusetts. It never restored the old charter, 
though it offered a charter with fewer privileges, which the 
colony accepted, rather than have none. One of the first gov- 
ernors sent out was Dudley, already odious on account of the 
sympathy and support he had given to Andros. A contro- 
versy began at this time between Massachusetts and the Par- 
liament, with respect to their reciprocal rights, which was 
never settled until the War of Independence, a century after- 
wards. 

It remains to speak of the Witchcraft delusion of 1692, in 
Salem, by which twenty-two persons suffered death, and fifty- 
five more were tortured into a confession, that, strange to say, 
saved their lives. It was the universal belief, at that time, 
that all power unaccounted for by direct reference to the good- 
ness of God, were gifts of the devil — a Person antagonistic to 
Divine power. Nervous disorder, animal magnetism, &c., were 
therefore thought to be devilish inspirations, not only by those 
who observed them, but by the persons themselves who were 
exercised by or exercised them. This particular outbreak 
began in the family of the Rev. Mr. Parris, of Salem; and it 
has been thought by some, that it arose from a fit of the St. 
Vitus' dance, which seized two of his children ; for that was 
a disease rife in that locality. The children referred their 
spasms and strange sensations to an Indian woman, who, as 
they said, bewitched them. There was nothing in the popular 
creed to contradict the principle of the excitement. It spread, 
as it is the nature of any excitement of the imagination to do, 

* See Hawthorne's "Gray Champion," in '' Twice-told Tales." 



78 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

and was largely aided by private malice and revenge. Mr 
Bancroft, in his nineteenth chapter, has given a very interesting 
account of the particulars, and has proved a very interesting 
fact, namely : that it was the royal officers who sat on the 
bench, rather than the people of Massachusetts, who were re- 
sponsible for the madness of the hour, and the judicial murders 
committed. The delusion was not checked till the accusations 
began to invade the families of the Judges. The Governor, 
Sir William Phipps' wife was accused. This culmination 
proved a cure. Witchcraft was not disbelieved, but the whole 
mode of trying and judging was condemned ; and as soon as the 
trials were fair, there were no more convictions. 



LESSON X. 

What remarkable scene occurred in America on Dec. 22d., 
1620? What had this company done in 1607, and where had 
it been meanwhile? Why did they wish to remove from Hol- 
land ? How did they get means of emigration to America 1 
What were the terms 1 What was the grand motive of the 
emigrants ? How came they to go to Plymouth ? How and 
when was their government constituted 1 What was it 1 
What misfortunes had they 1 Was their property in common 
or private 1 How did the Pilgrims get the land from the In- 
dians ? Were the Indians friendly ? What proofs had the 
colonists of the bad faith of the London Company 1 How Avas 
the matter settled at last, respecting the property of the emi- 
grants 1 What was the guarantee of stability to the Colony ? 
What was the actual government ? What was the element of 
its perseverance and strength ? What strongly contrasted 
Empire had its date in the year 1620 ? Who granted the 
charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company ? What was the 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

charter ? "What remarkable persons were in this Company 1 
How came the privileges of the company to be transferred to 
the emigrants? What colonies Y/ere carried out in conse- 
quence of this change ? What were the circumstances of the 
formation of the first church of Salem? What political privi- 
leges had Massachusetts in 1630 ? What were the points of 
difference between Roger Williams and the other Puritans ? 
What was the real reason that the Puritans made their church 
absolute sovereign of their State? What bad effect had this 
upon their character and action ? What proofs of spiritual life 
on earth, were brought out by the Puritan persecutions of 
non-conformists ? What good institutions of education did the 
Puritans found ? What danger to the rights of Massachusetts, 
came from *i\ie religious hierarchy of Great Britain, during the 
first half of U.q 17th century ? What political danger arose 
from the paren*-. council in England ? What dispute arose 
respecting the charter of the Colony ? How was it carried on, 
and finally settles? When Charles the 1st was beheaded, 
20 years after, how did the new government act, and what 
propose? Why was not the proposition accepted? What 
other propositions weie made by Cromwell, and rejected by 
the colony ? Was not *-he Colony in good will with Crom- 
well? How was ecclesiastical tyranny developed in Massa- 
chusetts ? What persecutions took place, and when ? What 
did Massachusetts do when Charles II. ascended the English 
throne ? What terms did Charles II. make in consequence ? 
In what Indian war had Massachusetts engaged in 1637 ? 
What were the rdations of the Indians and Massachusetts, in 
1676 ? What wej the occasion of " King Philip's war ?" 
What was its issm? How long did the war rage ? On what 
towns did the Indins commit outrages? What outrage did 
they themselves su^'er of a like kind ? Where else did an In- 
dian war rage at thi time ? What new adjustment of the re- 



80 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

lations of the mother country and Massachusetts, was com- 
menced hj Edward Eandolph 1 What effect had this on the 
relations of New Hampshire and Maine ? What great point 
was aimed at by the Stuarts ? How many years did this 
struggle last ? How did it endl Who was the first Gover- 
nor 1 When did Sir Edmund Andros arrive ; and what was 
the extent of his authority ? What changes did he make in the 
government of Massachusetts'? How were remonstmnces 
answered ? Who was sent to England to seek redress? But 
how did redress come? What happened the 4th of April, 
1689 ? Who was now Governor ? Did the government of 
William and Mary restore the charter ? Who was sent out as 
their first governor ? What controversy now aros^ ? What 
do you remember of the witchcraft delusion. Wh-*t happened 
in Massachusetts in 1620? 1636? 1659? 1676? 1686? 1692? 

New Hampshire and MajsVe. 

The coasts of Maine and New Hampshire were visited by 
Captain John Smith, in the first decad^of the century, when 
he made a famous voyage from Virginii, exploring the shores 
of New England, of which he left an Account with a map. 

Two years after the time that ihh Pilgrims went to New 
England, the country west of the Pis6atac[ua jiver was granted 
by the New England council, to Sir John Jiason; and that 
between the Piscata(][ua and Kennebec, lj) Sir Ferdinand 
Gorges. I 

About 1623, the coast of Maine, and thf towns of Dover 
and Portsmouth, began to be settled; but /they grew slowly. 
In 1639, Exeter was settled by John Awheel wright, who 
bought the country on the Merrimac of th(/lndians, he having 
been banished from Massachusetts on tip charge of antino- 
mian principles. John Mason had died |^e year before, and 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 

tliougli Ms grant was made over to his heirs, they so neglected 
the colony, that in 1641, the settlers solicited to be annexed 
to Massachusetts, stipulating, however, that they should be 
represented in its legislative asssembly by deputies, who might 
not be in church-fellowship. This was acceded to by Massa- 
chusetts, and both Maine and New Hampshire were annexed, 
without losing their independence. The union lasted nearly 
forty years, until the time when Charles II., through Edward 
Randolph, followed by Sir Edmund Andros, attempted to 
consolidate the colonies, from Maryland to the St. Croix, into 
one royal province. Then the Commissioners arbitrarily 
separated New Hampshire and Maine from Massachu- 
setts, and assigned them to the heirs of the old proprie- 
tors. Mason and Gorges. But the Gorges claims were 
bought up by some merchants of Boston for the sum of 
X1250, and Maine was governed as a province of Massachu- 
setts until the year 1820. New Hampshire, on the other hand, 
was organized in 1679, into a royal province ; the first ever 
established in New England. A legislative assembly was 
granted ; but the king reserved a negative voice to himself 
and his of&cers. Nevertheless, this assembly showed the true 
democratic spirit. As soon as it convened, it wrote a grateful 
and affectionate farewell to Massachusetts, "thankfully 
acknowledging its kindness while dwelling under its shadow," 
and then proceeded to decree that " no act, imposition, law, 
or ordinance, shall be valid, unless made by the assembly, and 
approved by the people." The first governor was Edward 
Cranfield ; to whom the Mason lands were given in mortgage 
for his salary. This selfish administration was a continual 
struggle to put down the people, politically and ecclesiastically ; 
which was as constantly and manfully resisted. After 1688, 
a merchant by the name of Allen, bought up the claims of 

Mason and received a commission as governor ; and the 
4* 



82 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY ' 

political liistoiy of New Hampshire thereafter, for a C][uarter 
of a century, was a series of lawsuits, until at length the heirs 
of the proprietary abandoned the claim. 

The romance of the history of New Hampshire and Maine 
is rather grim ; for it consists entirely of Indian Wars, excited 
by the French Jesuits. 



LESSON XI. 

Who first explored and made a map of the coasts of New 
Hampshire and Maine in 1609 1 Who were the first Proprie- 
tors of these States, and with what boundaries respectively ? 
What settlements were made in 1623 ? What, in 1639, and 
why 1 Why did the settlers of New Hampshire and Maine 
become united to Massachusetts, and on what terms 1 How 
long did the Union last 1 When and how was it separated 1 
How come Maine to return to its union with Massachusetts ? 
When and what was the organization of the government of 
New Hampshire 1 But how did it evince a democratic spirit 
at once 1 What do you remember of the first royal governor ? 
What change occurred in 1688, and with what conseq[iiences 1 
How were the difficulties settled ? 



Maryland in the 17th Century. 

In March, 1634, a ship of large burden, called the Ark, 
and a pinnace called the Dove, sailed into the Potomac river ; 
and the crew, landing on an island there, planted a cross, and 
took possession of it in the name of England. 

This was the fleet of Leonard Calvert, who had come to 
take possession of the country immediately north of Virginia, 
for his brother, Lord Baltimore, by virtue of a patent granted 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

to Sir George Calvert, their fatlier — who had died tT^o years 
before, while it was passing the great Seal. 

Sir G-eorge Calvert was a Catholic convert from Protestant- 
ism, and the first in the history of Christian Colonization, who 
actually estahUslied popular institutions, with the enjoyment 
of liberty of conscience to all the inhabitants of a State; 
practically recognizing the rightful equality of Christian sects. 
Charles I. granted him this patent, for a yearly rent of 
two Indian arrows, and a fifth of all the gold and silver he 
might find. Sir George was thus made absolute proprietor, 
but could not touch the life, freehold, or estate of any emi- 
grant. The emigrants were to legislate independently of the 
king ; and the statutes of the province were to be established 
by the proprietor, but not without the advice and approbation 
of the freemen and their deputies. Moreover, all present and 
future people of the English king were permitted to emigrate 
to this colony, and the English king covenanted that neither 
he nor his assigns would ever impose a tax on the emigrants. 
Calvert was not obligated to obtain the royal assent to the 
appointments or legislation of his province ; or to make known 
any results officially. He had the power granted him of estab- 
lishing a colonial aristocracy ; but this was of small moment 
practically. The seeds of popular liberty in his charter, were 
the only ones that took any deep root in American soil ; the 
rest were fruitless. 

The Ark and Dove sailed forty-seven leagues up the 
Potomac to the village of Piscataqua, near where now is Mt. 
Vernon. A landing was not opposed by the Indian Chief, 
who gave leave for the planting of a colony there ; but 
Calvert concluded to descend the stream again to Yoacomoco, 
where he anchored, and by presents of cloth and axes, hoes 
and knives, and with things more valuable still, purchased the 
spot of the Indians, and named it St. Mary's. The whole 



84 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

countiy patented, had already been named Maryland, In 
honor of Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles the I. who 
had granted the patent. 

The early days of this colony were not attended with the 
usual hardships. Neighboring Virginia furnished domestic 
cattle and grain ; the friendly Indians taught how to cook the 
Indian corn, and Lord Baltimore constantly sent out every- 
thing necessary for comfort, expending, in two years, 40,000 
pounds sterling, on his colony. 

Under these mild institutions and munificence, the dreary 
wilderness soon bloomed with the swarming life and activity 
of prosperous settlements ; the Roman Catholics, who were 
oppressed by the laws of England, were sure to find a peace- 
ful asylum in the quiet harbours of the Chesapeake ; and 
Quakers, and other Protestants, were here sheltered from 
Protestant intolerance, by the liberal hospitality of the 
Catholics. The first popular assembly of Maryland was 
convened the next year, in consequence of certain claims 
made by a Virginia proprietor named Claiborne, who had 
settled on the Island of Kent before 1634. This matter was 
finally settled in favor of Lord Baltimore. This assembly 
signally proved that its chartered freedom was a reality : 
for Lord Baltimore proposed a code of laws, which it rejected, 
proposing for his acceptance another of its own concocting. The 
third assembly of Maryland framed a " declaration of rights," 
which, acknowledging the duty of allegiance to the English 
monarch, and securing to Lord Baltimore his prerogatives, 
likewise confirmed to the inhabitants of Maryland all the 
liberties which an Englishman can enjoy at home ; establish- 
ed a system of representative government ; and asserted, for 
the general assemblies in the province, all such powers as may 
be exercised by the Commons of England. The rights and 
liberties of the Eoman Catholics were assured by this 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 85 

assembly ; but nothing more : and these grand principles of 
government were politically organized, when the State was 
yet so small and poor, that '' the whole people," says Bancroft, 
" were obliged to contribute to ' the setting up of a water mill.' " 

Bancroft's description of Maryland, in the first years of its 
existence is a counterpart to that he has given of Virginia. It 
was a Paradise of peace and plenty, threatened only from 
without. 

The establishment of the Commonwealth of England natu- 
rally produced some difficulties in Maryland. When monar- 
chy was overthrown at home, the question arose, whether Lord 
Baltimore's mimic sovereignty could stand. Claiborne re- 
newed his claims, and fomented rebellion, and for a time com- 
pelled Lord Baltimore's deputy, Stone, who was a Protestant, 
to surrender to him his commission and government; and he 
assembled at Patnxent a convention of the Puritans, who had 
been largely invited into the colony by the tolerance of Lord 
Baltimore. This assembly acknowledged the authority of 
Cromwell, and disfranchised the, wliole Romish party ! Crom- 
well rebuked this action, and commanded the commissioners 
*'not to busy themselves about religion, but to settle the civil 
government." The E-oman Catholics, however, had already 
flown to arms, indignant at the ingratitude and injustice of the 
Puritan party towards Lord Baltimore. Stone was, of course, 
at their head; but they were discomfited, and Stone was im- 
prisoned. Then the Catholic party, in the city of St. Mary's, 
acknowledged the leadership of Fendall, a new deputy of Lord 
Baltimore, who had been engaged with Stone in the insurrec- 
tion. Meanwhile, Cromwell's commissioners were sustained 
by the Puritan assembly at St. Leonard's. For a long while * 
things hung in this condition, and nothing decisive was done. 
Cromwell and Lord Baltimore were both too busy at home to 
attend to American affairs. A compromise was effected at 



86 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

last, and the government of tlie whole province was surren- 
dered to Fendall. This was two years before the Restoration 
of 1660. At the Restoration, representatives of the Puritans 
immediately met in the house of Robert Slye, and voted them- 
selves a lawful assembly, refusing to obey the other body, 
which claimed to be the upper house. Fendall prudently 
permitted this proclamation. There was, therefore, no autho- 
rity but that of the assembly and the king of England ac- 
knowledged ; and Lord Baltimore's deputy was permitted to 
continue as chief magistrate. When the successful invasion 
of England by William of Orange became known in Maryland, 
there were nine deputies ruling under the presidency of Wil- 
liam Joseph. Some hesitancy being shown to proclaim the 
new sovereign, an armed association immediately asserted the 
right of King William, and drove the deputies to a garrison 
on the south side of Patuxent river, about two miles above its 
mouth. There they capitulated ; and, on assurance of safety 
for themselves personally, agreed to exclude all Papists from 
office ! The Protestant party now assumed the government, 
in the form of a convention, and made an address to King 
William, denouncing the influence of the Jesuits, and accusing 
the last government of connivance at murders of Protestants, 
and of plots with the French and Indians. The privy council 
of King William, debating on this address, advised a forfeiture 
of the charter ; and King William constituted by his own 
arbitrary power, a royal government for Maryland. In 1692, 
Sir Lionel Copley arrived with the royal commission, dissolved 
the convention, assumed the government, and convened an 
assembly, whose first act was to acknowledge William and 
Mary, and the second to divide the country into parishes, as 
in England, and establish the English Church, to be supported 
by general taxation ! *^ In the land which Catholics had opened 
to Protestants," says Bancroft, from whose History of the Uni- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 

ted States the above account of Maryland is abridged, " tbe 
asylnm of ever j persecuted sect, tbe Catholic inhabitant was the 
sole victim to Anglican intolerance." He adds that the per- 
secution did not crush the faith of the humble colonists, but 
Benedict Calvert, to recover the inheritance of his family- 
property, renounced the Catholic Church for that of England. 
He did not, however, gain this object during the seventeenth 
century. His claims were not granted till 1715, after George 
I. became King:. 



^&" 



LESSOISI XII. 

What scene occurred in the Potomac river, March, 1634 ? 
What did all this mean ? What do you know of Sir George 
Calvert ? What was the patent granted him by Charles I. ? 
What rights were secured to the emigrants ? What privileges 
and powers had Calvert ? Where did the emigrants land ? 
What was the country named ? Why were the early days of 
this colony more free from hardships than other colonies ? 
Did different sects of religion settle here ? Why was the first 
popular assembly convened, and when'? How did it prove 
the reality of its chartered liberty ? What was the " bill of 
rights " framed by the third popular assembly ? Did the col- 
ony prosper? What change took place when "the common- 
wealth " was established in England ? What caused the Ro- 
man Catholics to fly to arms, and what was done? How 
came the struggle to last so long undecided, and how did it 
end 1 On the restoration of the Stuarts, what did the repre- 
sentatives of the people do ? and how were matters adjusted '? 
What was the government at the time of the Revolution of 
1668 1 What change occurred then 1 What was the address 
to King William ? How did his privy council act upon this 
address 1 Yfhat government was arranged by Sir Lionel 



88 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Copley in 1692, and wliat laws were made ? Was tlie faitli 
of the humble colonists crushed ? How did Benedict Calvert 
act ? When were his claims allowed ? 



Colonization of Connecticut. 

On the last days of October, 1635, were to be seen, in the 
wild woods of Massachusetts, sixty pilgrims, going west — men 
women, and children. They were going from Massachusetts 
Bay to the Connecticut river, by virtue of a charter that the 
younger Winthrop had obtained from the Lords Say and Seal, 
and Lord Brooke, who were assigns of the Earl of Warwick, 
to whom ''the New England Council" had granted the coun- 
try five years before. These pilgrims found they had been 
anticipated, as some fur-traders from Plymouth had already 
built a trading house at Windsor ; and the Dutch from Man- 
hattan, three years before that, had built a trading house at 
Hartford, which they named The Good Hope, The Eng- 
lish Pilgrims suffered greatly from the lateness of ^ the season ; 
both on their journey and at Wethersfield, where they settled. 
In the spring, however, another party, of a hundred persons, 
joined them, having come through the woods in the same way, 
driving before them large herds of cattle, and travelling at the 
rate of ten miles a day, through swamps, and streams, and 
tangled woods, over mountain and valley, camping out every 
night, and milking their cows. They were conducted by Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, " the light of the Western Churches," who 
made the hills and woods echo with his fervent prayers, morn- 
ing and evening. Though the fur trade offered reasonable 
ground for the material interests of the new State, religious 
enthusiasm was the largest element of the motives that im- 
pelled its inception. 

The Dutch colonists were of course, inimical to this 



OF THE. UNITED STATES. 89 

ingress of Englisli settlers ; but in the end they were so favor- 
ably impressed with the political, as well as social character- 
istics of the Puritan colony, that, when occasion came, they 
were not unwilling to be amalgamated with it, as has been 
already seen in the account of New York. 

A more formidable enemy than the Dutch, were the Pequod 
Indians, who were settled round the river Thames. These 
attempted a confederation with the l^arragansetts on one side, 
and the Mohegans on the other; and commenced hostilities by 
a murder. Roger Williams was the only man among the Pil- 
grims who had any great influence over the Indians, and he 
was persuaded by Sir Harry Vane, who was then governor 
of Massachusetts, which was threatened by the alliance equally 
with Connecticut, to try to dissolve this conspiracy. With 
his accustomed self-sacrificing magnanimity, he shipped him- 
self in a poor canoe, and encountering wind and storm and 
high seas on his way, he ventured to the wigwam of the sa- 
chem of the Narragansetts, where he found the Pequod am- 
bassadors, red with blood and vengeance. For three days 
and nights he remonstrated and persuaded ; and at last" suc- 
ceeded to detach the Narragansetts from the conspiracy. This 
mission was at the risk of his ov/n life ; for if he had not suc- 
ceeded he would probably have perished. 

The Mohegans also became allies of the English of Connec- 
ticut ; but the Pequods determined to contend single-handed. 
They had confidence in their rush-wood palisades, and in their 
numbers, which were ten times those of the Connecticut Eng- 
lish, who mustered less than an hiindred men. 

But the English, conscious of their strength, descended the 
Connecticut river, and sailed directly up the Thames to the 
Pecjuod village, and soon descried the hill where the Indians 
were encamped. As they landed and marched up, the Indian 
watch-dog bayed, and the savages were aroused. They fought 



90 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

desperately; but bows and arrows had no chance against wea- 
pons of steel. At length. Mason, the English commander, gave 
orders to cast a fire-brand among the wigwams ; and the light 
mats which formed their walls were instantly in a blaze. As 
the women and children rushed forth, they were driven back 
by the English broadswords. In one hour six hundred In- 
dians perished, mostly by fire. The next morning some 
hundred warriors, who were yet in reserve, unconscious of the 
disaster, came to reinforce their fortifications. In their aston- 
ishment and horror at seeing the bloody ruins, they tore their 
hair, and rushed upon the English. It was in vain. With 
small loss of the English, they were all defeated; and Mason 
returned home in triumph. A few days after, the troops of 
Massachusetts arrived, led by Wilson, (the same Puritan min- 
ister who afterwards presided over the execution of the Qua- 
ker martyr, Mary Dyer.) The Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts men pursued the surviving Peg^uods to their hiding 
places, burnt every wigwam, and laid waste every corn-field. 
Sassacus, their chief, fled for protection to the Mohegans, Avho 
murdered him, lest they should incur the hostility of the Eng- 
lish. About two hundred Pequods, that remained selive, sur- 
rendered themselves in despair, and were incorporated among 
the neighboring tribes, or enslaved by the English. Thus, 
the Pequod name and race were entirely extinguished. 

The lands of the Pequods of course became the property of 
the colonists ; but the lands about Hartford were purchased of 
the Mohegans by the younger Winthrop, who established a 
government, which made every man who would swear fidelity 
to the English commonwealth, an elector, empowered to choose 
magistrates and the legislature, annually. The constitution 
said nothing of any jurisdiction by the English monarch. It 
was virtually an independent government. 

But on the Restoration of Charles II. to the throne of Eng- 



OF THE UKITED STATES. 91 

land, in 1660, the younger Winthrop did the most important 
service to Connecticut, by going himself to England to solicit 
a renewal of the charter, assuring to the colonists the lauds 
which had been purchased or conquered in the preceding 
twenty-five years. 

There had, however, another colony come to Connecticut, 
meanwhile, which was founded in the very year of the Pe- 
quod war ; and that .was New Haven. It was a pilgrim col- 
ony, recently from England, under the guidance of Theophilus 
Eaton, who was elected its governor for twenty years succes- 
sively. This colony honorably purchased its lands of the In- 
dians. But it gave to church members only, the privileges of 
freedom ; and the Bible was the statute book of the colony." 
Mr. Eaton had great wealth, for he had been Deputy Gover- 
nor of the British East India Company, before he came to 
America; and he reigned nearly like a monarch, but with 
righteousness and love. 

The younger Winthrop is described in his father's " Jour- 
nal." He was a gifted child; had the best education the Brit- 
ish dominions could afford; had travelled all over Europe, 
where his personal beauty, his spotless morals, his brilliant 
talents, and his perfect culture combined to make him illus- 
trious ; and was so devoted to religion, that, on his return 
home, finding his father about to embark for America, he pre- 
ferred to go with him, to all the prospects of preferment at 
court, that his personal and circumstantial advantages offered. 
He surpassed his father in largeness and toleration, without 
being inferior to him in devotion. He pleaded for the Quakers 
and Baptists, in their day of persecution. His home was 
blessed by a wife and children, whom he made happy by his 
lovely character. He found perfect delight himself in science 
and art, and corresponded with Newton and Boyle, Clarendon 
and Milton. But he was eminently practical, and commanded 



92 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the veneration and confidence of all sects ; of the Dutch at 
New York, not less than of all New England. Bancroft says, 
" if he had faults, they are all forgotten," while all testimonies 
unite in pronouncing his eulogy. 

So gifted a person, with the advantage of all concurring in- 
fluences that his worth commanded, did not fail to gain even 
from Charles II., all he wanted. The patent he obtained uni- 
ted the two colonies of Hartford and New Haven into one, 
and extended the claims of Connecticut to the Pacific Ocean ! 
It was indeed with some reluctance, that New Haven allowed 
itself to lose its individuality. The western claim was after- 
wards sold, and thus gave the means of establishing the school 
fund of Connecticut. But this was not until after the devolu- 
tion, when, by a better knowledge of the geography of 
the country, it was seen to have been an unconsidered 
grant. 

The charter of Connecticut, obtained by Winthrop, was, as 
Bancroft says, " the most wonderful of all," for it made the 
colony independent, except in name. The colonists were to 
elect their own officers; to enact their own laws ; to adminis- 
ter justice without appeals to England ; to inflict punishments ; 
to confer pardons ; — the Eling even reserved no negative on 
the acts of the colony ; and^ in short, the English government 
could not interfere in any case whatever ! 

The effect of this government was an unexampled prosper- 
ity, for more than a century. Its days were " halcyon days 
of peace.'' Bancroft's description of it seems to realize more 
than the fancied Utopia promised. One does not wonder, as 
one reads of it, that the neighbouring colony of the Dutch, 
Avished to transform itself into an English colony, and met so 
frankly the proposition to surrender all the country to the 
Duke of York, on security being promised to the customs, 
municipal institutions, and personal possessions of the Dutch. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 

Wintlirop "was elected Governor of Connecticut fourteen suc- 
cessive years. 

The first cloud whicli lowered upon Connecticut, was wlien 
the fleet of Sir Edmund Andros, which, in obedience to Charles 
II.'s plan of consolidating the colonies, proceeded from 
New York to Connecticut. The assembly was convened on 
this occasion, by the Deputy Governor Leet, who sent at once 
for the military company, which was the defence of the col- 
ony. It arrived just as Andros landed, and was reading his 
commission. The Colonial officers interrupted the reading 
with a command to " desist, in the King's name." Sir Ed- 
mund was appalled at the spirit manifested; and "the Say- 
brook militia conducted him to his boats ; " for he dared not 
proceed to violence. 

In the thirteen years that followed, every representation 
was made in England of the Connecticut Puritans which could 
turn them into ridicule. Then arose the slander respecting 
the Blue Laws, with others of a like kind. At the end of that 
time, Sir Edmund went to Connecticut again, clothed in new 
power by James II. Finding the Assembly in session, he de- 
manded their charter. But he was now baffled another way. 
The Governor, to gain time, entered into an elaborate discus- 
sion, which he spun out until evening, when, on a sudden, the 
lights were extinguished by Mr. Bull, who threw over them a 
blanket ; and William Wadsworth snatched the precious in- 
strument, which was lying on the table. The assembly silently 
opened for him a passage, and he left the hall, and deposited it 
in the oak, which is still pointed out with pride in Hartford, con- 
secrated by a holier trust than the English oak which saved the 
fugitive Stuart in his hour of peril. The government was, for 
the time being, nevertheless surrendered to Andros, who, 
taking the Colonial Records of freedom, wrote on them the 
word Finis. But soon afterward, when the accession of Wil- 



94: CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

liam and Maiy spread revolution like lightning througli the 
American colonies, the Assembly of Connecticut convened, 
repudiated the government of Andros, and erased his Finis 
from their records ; to which they have ever since continued 
to add chapters of the history of freedom. 



LESSON XIII.— Connecticut. 

What was the scene in the wild woods of Massachusetts, in 
the last days of October, 1635? What did this mean ? Had 
these pilgrims been anticipated by any other settlers'? How 
did they enjoy the winter 1 How were they reinforced in the 
spring of 1636 1 What was the cause of the formation of this 
new State 1 How did the Dutch colonies like this ingress of 
the English 1 What did the Pequod Indians do about it % 
How was the conspiracy dissolved ? What induced the Pe- 
quods to persevere ? Describe the expedition of Mason against 
theml What did the Connecticut and Massachusetts men do 
further in this war ? What became of the surviving Pequods % 
In what year was this war ? What became of the lands of 
the Pequods ? What lands did the younger Winthrop buy 1 
For what purpose ? What was the government 1 How came 
they to get a charter when Charles II. came upon the throne 1 
What do you remember about the younger Winthrop's per- 
sonal history 1 What were the provisions of the charter that 
he obtained? Was New Haven willing to lose its individual- 
ity ] Of what use was the western claim afterwards ? What 
rights had the colony under the charter? How did the colony 
flourish ? How many times was Winthrop elected governor ? 
What was done when Sir Edmund Andros undertook to con- 
solidate Connecticut with the rest of New England, in 1674 ? 
What occurred on his next attempt in 1687 ? What revulsion 
took place on the accession of William and Mary ? 



OF THE UNITED STATES. ' 95 



OOLONIZATION OF EhODE IslAND. 

Rhode Island owes its settlement and remarkable constitu- 
tion to the banishment of E-oger Williams from the Colony of 
Massachusetts. This event took place in 1635, and in the 
Spring of 1636, (after having passed the winter among the 
Indians, whom he had made his friends by personal benevo- 
lence, having exerted himself more than any one else, to teach 
them Christianity, and the arts and comforts of civilization), 
he purchased the plantation of Providence. But it was not 
merely by personal kindness that he benefited the Indians. 
He defended their right to citizenship and all the privileges of 
freedom, notwithstanding they were not members of the 
Church, but even heathens. Indeed, this was a large part of 
his offence in the eyes of the Puritans of Massachusetts ! 

Eoger Williams was of Welsh descent. He was an Oxford 
scholar ; first studied civil law under Sir Edward Coke, and, 
afterwards, became a fervent Puritan preacher. This com- 
bination of various educational influences was probably bene- 
ficial. At all events he seems to have been the most clear 
headed of the Puritans, and his so called heresies were rigid 
deductions from the common creed. He discriminated men as 
members of the natural community into which all men were 
born, and as members of the Christian Church, into which 
only some men were elected. As members of the natural 
community, they all had ec[ual duties and rights, and on these 
was civil government to be founded. The civil government 
extended over all the moral activity, and could enforce justice 
in the relations of men to each other, but could not extend 
itself over the relations of men to the G-od of Grace. He 
maintained that as members of a visible Church, men became 
subject to another law; which could be enforced only within 



96 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the church precincts, into which any man freely came, who 
could approve himself to the others as elected by grace ; but 
that he was as free to leave it, if he doubted it to be a true 
church for him, as it was free to excommunicate him, if his 
evidence failed to be satisfactory to them. Within this 
church sphere, as well as between man and his maker, the 
civil magistrate had no right to come. A man's religious 
opinions and faith were sacred from all interference of the 
civil government. But the civil government was bound to 
protect every man in his religions freedom, even if he found 
himself to be in a church of only one member, — as Roger 
Williams himself did, at last. 

The immediate cause of his banishment from Massachusetts 
was his assertion for the church in Salem, over which he was 
Pastor, of immunity from the dictation in matters of faith and 
church practice, of the Government of Massachusetts. He 
presumed to assemble persons to pray, and be addressed by 
each other, in private houses. The Puritans in general be- 
lieved that, if religious matters were left so entirely to the 
private judgment of Christians, the English Church would 
creep in and rob them of their freedom to be Puritans. 
They had not faith enough in their churches to believe that 
the Holy Ghost would make them so strong that death and 
hell could not prevail against them. But Roger Williams 
trusted his to be the Ark of the Lord, needing no Uzziah 
hands of support upon it. He created the Baptist form of 
church government and policy, which he believed to be the 
original plan of' the Christian Churches, instituting adult or 
rather believer's baptism, and even independence of each 
church on the other, in the Lord's Supper, except by special 
agreement. This close communion as it is called, seems to 
many persons a non sequitur from his liberal principles. But 
he did not consider the Lord's Supper as other sectaries do, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 

to be symbolical of Obrlstian communion, wbicli be conceived 
to be identical witb nothing less than a life of charity. He 
considered both of the christian rites as symbolical of the 
christian doctrines which each visible church was constituted 
to preserve in the world, and on which alone, could a church, 
as such, commune. He might have been mistaken in this 
view of the rites, but it is fair to understand him as he meant, 
and not in a sense which he repudiated. 

Mr. Bancroft has done beautiful justice to Eoger Williams' 
character in his ninth chapter, which the student should con- 
sult. He draws a parallel between him and Lord Baltimore, 
who had, two years before, established his colony on the Poto- 
mac, on a platform of general toleration. Lord Baltimore had 
been taught toleration by his experience in England, as one 
of a proscribed and persecuted sect, and, what is important 
to observe, could have obtained his patent only on the condi- 
tion of tolerating Protestants. But E-oger Williams had found 
toleration as a principle of reason and Christianity, and suf- 
fered persecution from his religious friends, in order to de- 
fend his right to hestoiv, not enjoy it merely. He believed in 
*' soul-liberty," and that all religious profession was entirely 
vitiated that was enforced from without. Consequently he 
did not impose even the Christian religion, as a necessary 
qualification for civil privileges. But even in the very act of 
the second Lord Baltimore (engrossed by him on parchment, 
and passed by the Maryland Assembly of 1649), which says 
that no person professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall be 
molested on account of religion, it is previously stipulated that 
one who denies the doctrine of the Trinity shall suffer death j 
and fine, whipping and banishment are denounced for re- 
proachful speeches against the Virgin Mary. 

Eoger Williams bought the plantation of Providence of the 
chief of the Narragansetts, and established the first civil com- 
5 



98 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

munity history has mentioned, in which the right of the people 
to rnle themselves was recognized as an original principle. 
There were not even any magistrates at first, but the will of 
the people in convention, decided every thing in civil affairs. 

The religions troubles of Massachusetts, arising from the 
" liberty of prophesying," assumed by Anne Hutchinson and 
others, contributed to people Providence, which was an open 
asylum for all who wished freedom to follow conscience. 
Koger Williams and Sir Harry Vane, who, though Governor 
of Massachusetts, sympathized with him in his principles of 
toleration, induced the chief of the Narragansetts to grant the 
beautiful Ehode Island to "William Coddington and John 
Clarke, who had been banished in 1639 from Massachusetts, 
on the charge of Antinomianism. The civil government they 
established was founded also on the basis of the universal con- 
sent of all the individuals to be governed, but the forms of the 
administration were "borrowed," says Bancroft, "from the 
republic of ancient Israel." 

In 1644, Eoger Williams went to England to obtain a char- 
ter from ''the Commonwealth;" and, by the aid of his friend, 
Sir Harry Vane, who had returned to England, as well as his 
own transcendent merit, he succeeded. Then Rhode Island 
was incorporated together with Providence, with full powers 
of self-government. 

The early history of Rhode Island is a peculiar study. It 
was filled with every variety of sectary ; and with infidels 
also. Perfect liberty of debate was even encouraged by 
Roger Williams ; and of course the town meetings, as well as 
church meetings, were stormy. But, Bancroft says, good 
magistrates were uniformly elected ; good counsels always 
prevailed. It is true, there was a temporary difficulty pro- 
duced by the English Executive Council granting to William 
Coddington a commission to govern the island, which com- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 

pelled Williams to go to England, with John Clarke as col- 
league, to adjust the matter. By their exertions the danger- 
ous commission was vacated, and the integrity of the little 
State secured. The General Assembly, in its gratitude to 
Williams, on this occasion, asked him to obtain from the sov- 
ereign authority an appointment as governor for himself. But 
he was more pure from ambition than to make such a danger- 
ous precedent. At this crisis. Sir Harry Vane had been a 
''sheet anchor to Rhode Island;" and the people recorded 
their gratitude to him in an address, from which Bancroft 
makes an extract, expressing that they had attained " as great 
liberties as any people under the whole heaven." 

When Charles II. came upon the throne of England, John 
Clarke was in England, as agent of the colony, and presented 
its petitions for confirmation of its charter. He was success- 
ful. The supreme power was committed to a governor, 
deputy governor, and ten assistants, chosen by the people. 
Religious freedom was insured to every human being who 
might come within the boundaries of the colony. The people 
were to be governed by the laws of England, modified to their 
necessities hy tliemselves. No oath of allegiance was exacted. 
Bancroft supposes that this liberal charter, as well as that of 
Connecticut, obtained by the younger Winthrop, may have 
been granted, in order to make these colonies balance " the 
proud and rebellious Massachusetts." It was still in existence 
in 1844, the oldest constitutional charter then valid in the world. 

Andros, soon after his arrival as Governor of New England, 
demanded the charter of Rhode Island. As Walter Clarke, 
who was then the governor, did not immediately obey, Andros 
repaired to Rhode Island in person, dissolved its government, 
and broke its seal. Then he appointed five citizens to be his 
council ; and arbitrarily substituted for the old government a 
commission, irresponsible to the people. The people were 



100 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

qniet, and, it was supposed, submissive ; so that it was said 
they did not desire the restoration of the charter ! But, on 
May-day of 1689, when the news of William and Mary's inva- 
sion arrived, the "democrasie" of Rhode Island poured into 
Newport, saying, " We take it to be our duty to lay hold of 
our former gracious privileges, in our charter contained." An 
old Quaker, Henry Bull by name, was elected governor, and 
employed the last glimmering of life, says Bancroft, in restor- 
ing the action of the democratic charter of Rhode Island. It 
is a curious circumstance, that when the laws of Rhode Island 
were written out, under the influence of King William's gov- 
ernment, the Roman Catholics were excepted from religious 
freedom. This was not an act of the people of Rhode Island, 
however, but of King William's government, and was repealed 
by the legislature of Rhode Island, on the first occasion of its 
being tested, by the presence of the French fleet in the harbor 
of Newport, in 1779. 

N. B. — Rhode Island, though the smallest in territory of 
all the States of the Union, is in some respects the greatest of 
all, as has been eloquently set forth by Judge Durfee in a 
discourse before the Historical Society of that State, Jan. 13, 
1847. And the principles of government it has historically 
illustrated, have been defended in a very able manner by 
Rowland Gr. Hazard, in a discourse upon Judge Durfee, and 
his writings, delivered before the same body the next year, 
Jan. 18th, 1848. 

Both these discourses are earnestly recommended to stu- 
dents of the constitutional history of the United States. The 
last presents important views on the question of the emolu- 
ments of the officers of republican government, looking to the 
end of keeping them incorruptible. Franklin expressed a 
similar opinion in the Federal Convention, according to the 
Madison papers. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 



LESSON XIV. ^ 

To what does Eliode Island owe its settlement and remark- 
aWe constitution 1 When was this banishment ? What were 
Hoger Williams' opinions abont the Indians' rights ? What 
was his history ? What were his opinions about Church and 
State? What was the immediate cause of his banishment? 
What was the point of difference between him and the Puri- 
tans ? What form of church government did he create ? What 
were the differences between him and Lord Baltimore, as foun- 
ders of a State, and in the States founded? How was his 
State peopled ? What was the origin of the separate govern- 
ment of the Islands ? When and how were Providence and 
Rhode Island incorporated into one ? What change took 
place when Charles 11. came upon the throne ? Why did he 
not get Charles to appoint him governor ? What change did 
Andros make ' afterwards ? What proved that the people did 
not like this change ? Who restored the operation of the 
charter ? What do you remember about a law against the 
Roman Catholics ? 

The Carolinas.— 1663-1670. 

The Carolinas were so named from the kings Charles of 
England. Charles I. had granted the whole territory to one 
of his friends ; but it was not taken possession of in his life- 
time ; and after the Restoration, Charles 11. made a new grant 
to a company of his friends, among whom were Lord Claren- 
don, General Monk, the Earl of Shaftsbury, the Berkeleys, 
and others. The royal charter, however, as in the case of 
Lord Baltimore, reserved to the free emigrants a right of as- 
sembly for legislation ; and religious liberty. 



102 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

For, already, in 1663, a permanent settlement had been 
made on tlie Chowan river. Some Quakers, who were driven 
from Virginia by the laws made by the long-sitting assembly* 
against dissenters, had fled thither to enjoy immunity from 
them, but subsequently received from Berkeley a governor. 
This colony was enlarged by the accession of some fugitives 
from the intolerance of New England, who had made an at- 
tempt to colonize on Cape Fear river. In all, there were 
above eight hundred souls, who founded the State of North 
Carolina. 

A most extraordinary constitution of government was planned 
for these provinces, at the instance of the proprietors, by the 
celebrated philosopher, John Locke. It instituted orders of 
nobility, with land-rights and titles. General Monk was to 
be Palatine, and named Duke of Albemarle, &c. Bancroft, 
who, in his thirteenth chapter, gives a minute account of the 
details of " the Grand Model," as it was called, shows that its 
introduction was rendered impossible, by reason of the Quaker 
influence, which was great there. The influence of the early 
Quakers was democratic, because their doctrine placed every 
man in independent relation to God, and taught him to rely 
for direction on " the light within." When this doctrine was 
a living principle, instead of the creed of an organization to be 
conserved, it expressed itself on the political plane actively, 
as well as passively. Bancroft says, that to read the early 
history of North Carolina would convince any mind of man's 
capacity for self-government. The proprietaries were forced 
to make a compromise with these people, and after ten years' 
struggle they consented to receive the Governor Sothel ; but 
they deposed him soon after he arrived. And yet Bancroft 
says these " freest of the free " were " gentle in their tempers," 

^^ Look "back to page 45 seq. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 

"of serene minds, enemies to violence and bloodshed." ''True, 
there was no fixed minister in the land till 1703; no church 
erected till 1705 ; no separate building for a court-house till 
1722 ; no printing press till 1754;" but "the spirit of human- 
ity maintained its influence * * * in the paradise of the 
Quakers." 

South Carolina was settled in the year 1670, the same year 
that " the Grand Model " was signed. The emigrants first 
touched at the place, where, in the century before, the unfor- 
tunate Huguenot colony, conducted by John E,ibault first 
" engraved the lilies of France, and erected the fortress of 
Oarolana ;" but leaving this place they concluded to land on 
the Ashley river, and there they built a town, of which no 
vestige now remains. They established a simple republican 
government ; for it was " impossible to execute the Grand 
Model. " As easily" says Bancroft, " might trees have been 
turned into cathedrals at a word ; or castles erected in those 
solitary groves on the Savannahs." " Representative govern- 
ment was established and continued to be cherished." It was, 
however, a good while before the proprietaries gave up their 
hopes of introducing their preposterous constitution ; and, 
meanwhile, they sent out supplies to the colony, and saved it 
from many of the hardships the other colonies had en- 
countered. Emigration was favored, Charleston began to be 
built, and slaves were immediately imported ; so that, in a 
few years, there were twice as many negroes as white men. 

Hitherto every colony to America, except the Swedish, 
which made an express provision against it, had received 
slaves. But they were used for domestic service wholly ; or, 
as in Virginia, they worked on the farms and plantations of 
tobacco, together with white slaves. The Dutch were the 
first who supplied the colonies ; but now the English were 
partaking the trade, and the Duke of York was president of 



lOi CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the African Company. No climate whicli liad yet been set- 
tled north of Florida, was so unfavorable to the health of 
white laborers as South Carolina, or so congenial to that of 
the African. Yet the African company forced them beyond 
the demand, and there is record of a complaint made by the 
South Carolina assembly, in the early part of the reign of 
William and Mary, of " the ruinous importation of negroes." 
The revolutionary government of England more than supplied 
to the African Company the patronage of their royal presi- 
dent : as is evident from Mr. Bancroft's chapter on the subject. 

The sources of the settlement of South Carolina were in 
the revolutions and distresses of other countries. Dutch from 
New York and even from Holland ; impoverished cavaliers 
from England ; — ^later, in James II.'s time, persecuted protes- 
tants ; a Scotch emigration also ; and, after James II. was 
driven from England, a company of Irish contributed to swell 
the immisTation. The revocation of the edict of Nantz by 
Louis XIV., in 1697, drove French Huguenots to all countries 
where protestants could find favor ; and large colonies of 
them went to South Carolina. Bancroft gives quite an in- 
teresting account of the perils the Huguenots encountered in 
becoming exiles, which a law of France forbade ; but the 
narrative he gives of the persecutions endured at home, accounts 
for any degree of heroism. They were more frightful than 
even the contemporary persecutions by James II. in England.* 

These Huguenots have given some of the highest charac- 
teristics to the people of South Carolina, for they were culti- 
vated by literature and science. 

* Mrs. George Lee's History of the Huguenots, published in Boston iu 
1842, is a book easily understood by young people, which gives a graphic 
account of Huguenot Martyrdom. But Sismondi's History of France en- 
ters into every detail of the continental persecution of Protestants at this 
time, including an account of the Bloody Baths in Eperies, Hungary. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 

The political history of South Carolina consisted mainly in 
struggles between the assembly of the Province and the 
proprietaries, until their charter was declared to be forfeited 
in the early part of the eighteenth century. Bancroft, in his 
chapter XXII., gives an account of this political war ; and also 
of the Indian difficulties, during which the Yamasees were 
driven into Florida^ and the Tuscarooras emigrated to the 
north, and joined the Five Nations. The change of South 
Carolina from the government of the proprietaries, to that of 
the king of England, did not end the difficulties. The Grand 
Model had been formally given up long before ; but William 
and Mary's government had established the Church of Eng- 
land in South Carolina, and, what is remarkable, attempted 
to force it upon North Carolina, which caused a continual tur- 
bulence there. 

Nevertheless, population and prosperity continued and in- 
creased ; being promoted in South Carolina by the cultivation 
of rice, which was introduced from Madagascar in 1691. 

LESSON XV. 

Why were the Carolinas so named ? By whom, and to 
whom, were they successively granted 1 What privileges 
were reserved to the emigrants '? What was the first colony 
and its early history 1 How was it augmented to 800 souls ? 
What was John Locke's Grand Model constitution? Why 
was its introduction impossible ? What was the end of the 
struggle ? What does Bancroft say of these people ? 

What settlement was made in 1670 ? What government 
did they establish ? Why ? How did the proprietaries' un- 
willingness to give up their hope of introducing the Grand 
Model incidentally benefit the colony ? Were slaves imme- 
diately introduced ? What had been the history of slavery in 
5* 



106 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the several colonies ? From what sources was South Caro- 
lina peopled? What was the cause of the Huguenot colony ? 
and the character of it ? What was the political history of 
South Carolina? When was their charter declared forfeited ? 
What change took place in the Indian population of South 
Carolina at the same time? What changes had taken place 
before, through the influence of William and Mary's govern- 
ment ? How was prosperity promoted in South Carolina ? 

New Jersey. — 1655. 

The Duke of York, immediately after taking posses- 
sion of New Netherlands, granted to Lord Berkeley and 
Sir George Carteret the territory now called New Jersey, in 
separate portions to each, which were called East and West 
Jersey. Some Dutch — not Danes, as has been asserted — had 
already settled at Bergen, and some Quakers had found refuge 
there from persecution ; also, some New England Puritans 
had settled on the E-aritan river, in 1663. The Proprietaries 
constituted a government of a liberal character, in order to en- 
courage emigration ; for they promised freedom of conscience 
and worship, and a representative Assembly who should lay 
the taxes ; and only reserved to themselves a veto on it, and a 
right to appoint the judiciary. The object was to encourage 
settlers. In consequence of this, a colony from Connecticut 
went to Newark, which was a combination into one of three 
churches that attempted to organize a Church which jlike Theo- 
philus Eaton's colony in New Haven, was to be identical with 
the State, in this instance merely a municipality. This emi- 
gration from Connecticut was occasioned by the adoption of 
the liberal charter obtained from Charles II. by the younger 
Winthrop. Its history can be found in Stearns's Ecclesiastical 
History of Newark. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 

Sir George Carteret made Ms brother Philip his deputy, 
who came out and built a house, in 1665, at Elizabethtown, 
which was named in honor of his wife. 

Berkeley sold out West Jersey, in 1674, to some Quakers, 
who commenced their settlement of it at Salem. They con- 
stituted a government for themselves, in which the whole 
power was vested in the people. In less than ten years after, 
William PeAn bought, in behalf of twelve of these Quakers, 
all East Jersey from Philip Carteret ; and though the Quakers 
did not spread into it, the extinction of the proprietary claim 
was favorable to the popular development of the government. 
Bancroft gives a captivating description, in his fifteenth chap- 
ter, of this "virtuous, prosperous, and happy community." 
But he tells us that though the proprietaries had been obliged 
to establish popular institutions, in order to people the coun- 
try, yet, in subservience to the Duke of York, their patron, 
who was President of the African Company, they offered " a 
bounty of seventy-five acres of land for the importation of 
every able slave." 

When the Duke of York became King James II., his cru- 
elties in Scotland drove the Scotch Presbyterians, by tens of 
thousands, from their homes ; and they came to New Jersey 
in such numbers as to give a character to it, " which," as Ban- 
croft says, in his Chapter XVII., '' a century and a half has 
not effaced." In 1683, Cawen Laurie wrote that, in all the 
colony, " there is not a poor body, nor one that wants." Rob- 
ert Barclay was then Grovernor of New Jersey, and the Scotch 
Calvinists had established free schools. 

But New Jersey fell under the consolidated government of 
Andros, in 1684; was subjected to the "Lords of Trade," in 
the time of William and Mary ; and, under Queeji Anne, was 
governed, together with New York, by Lord Cornbury, who 
gave new impulse to slavery, and greatly restricted the reli- 



108 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

gioiis as well as civil freedom of all classes. Those wlio are 
old enougli to study these political changes, can find them 
stated in Bancroft, Chapter XIX. Freedom, however, had 
been planted before the attempts at oppression came; and, in 
its struggle to maintain itself, New Jersey was educated for 
the Revolution. 



LESSON XVI. 

Who were the first proprietaries of New Jersey ? "Who 
were the first settlers, and where and when ? "What govern- 
ment did the proprietaries institute ? What do you remember 
about the colony of Newark 1 Who was the first governor, 
and where did he settle ? Who settled West Jersey, and 
where? When and how was East Jersey added to it ? What 
account does Bancroft give of the colony 1 Why were these 
privileges given by the proprietaries 1 How was slavery in- 
troduced ? What is said about the Scotch colony, and where 
did it settle ? What disastrous change took place in 1684 ? 
Who governed N. J. in William and Mary's time ? What was 
its condition in Queen Anne's time 1 Where can students learn 
those political events which educated New Jersey for the 
struggles of the Revolution ? 

Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

Pennsylvania takes its name from William Penn, son of a 
certain Admiral Penn, to whom James II, was very friendly. 
William had become a convert to Quakerism, and, although 
highly educated, elegant in person, and having the prestige of 
rank, he was subject to great persecutions in England for his 
faith. This circumstance, together v/ith a noble and generous 
plan, of making an experiment of a government which should 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 

repudiate violence and force, even in the political and civil 
order, induced liim to propose that the government of England 
should pay a debt of d£16,000, which it owed to his father, hy 
granting him a patent for land in America, with, privilege of 
colonization. It was quite a cheap way for the government to 
pay its debts; and he was permitted to purchase of the In- 
dians, a tract of land west of the Delaware river, between 
Maryland and New York, making a parallelogram of nearly 
six degrees of longitude, by nearly three degrees of latitude. 
Of this land, William Penn was made proprietary, it being the 
passion of the Stuarts to divide America into great proprie- 
tary estates ; none of which, however, flourished, except Mary- 
land under Lord Baltimore, and Pennsylvania under William 
Penn ; and not even these were permanent ; neither of them 
lasted as such for a century. But, because these proprieta- 
ries had disinterested views, and planted their colonies not 
mainly with reference to personal aggrandizement, the moral 
influence of Lord Baltimore, and especially of William Penn, 
was not transient like that of Grorges, Mason, Lords Say and 
Seal, the Berkeleys, Carteret, and others. In the grant to 
William Penn, it was stipulated that the sovereignty of the 
King, and the commercial supremacy of Parliament, should be 
reserved ; and that there should be a provincial assembly, to 
have a voice on the question of taxation. Otherwise, William 
Penn was made absolute proprietor and governor of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Penn's grant for Pennsylvania was from Charles II. He 
received, afterwards, from the Duke of York, the southern 
part of New Netherlands, which was a part of the peninsula 
between Delaware and Chesapeake bays. This had been col- 
onized as early as 1630, by the Dutch De Vries, an account of 
whose voyage, written by himself, is to be found in Hakluyt's 
Collection. The colony of De Vries was entirely destroyed 



110 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

by the Indians. Afterwards Delaware was bouglit by the 
city of Amsterdam; but such was the spirit of commercial 
monopoly, in which its affairs were conducted, that nearly 
every emigrant was driven to the freer English colonies, though 
an attempt at removal was punishable with death ! In 1638, 
the Swedish colony was established, which had been conquered 
by Stuyvesant in 1655. 

Penn had but one temptation to assume absolute power — 
his benevolence ! But he resisted that, and framed a govern- 
ment " free to the people; where the laws rule, and the people 
are a party to the laws." He immediately wrote to the set- 
tlers on the Delaware, and promised them laws of their own 
making. He also caused letters to be read to the Indians, in 
which he recognized them as under the same law of God as 
himself, whereby both parties were bound to befriend each 
other. 

A company of emigrants brought these letters to Ani erica, 
together with the plan of the city of Philadelphia, which was 
to be laid out in squares of an eighth of a mile, in order to af- 
ford room for every house built on the streets to have an ample 
garden ; and thus to make the city " a green country town." 
Had his plan been faithfully adhered to, Philadelphia would 
hardly have had its equal in the world, whether for beauty or 
health. The government Penn framed for his colony was a 
wonderful one. The legislative council was to be chosen every 
three years ; a general assembly every year. The Governor 
and Council were to propose the laws ; the people decide on 
them at J;heir primary meetings, and the assembly to report 
their decision. Finally, the people were to nominate the Gov- 
ernor's council. Thus every officer of the government (ex- 
cept the governor himself; who was to be William Penn or 
his heir), was to be elected by the people. Except for the 
Governor's veto, he had no prerogative, and it was a virtual 



OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill 

democracy. Finally Penn refused a revenue from export du- 
ties, and tax-gatlierers were unknown in Pennsylvania. Here 
we may draw a comparison with the government of Lord Bal- 
timore, who received the whole revenue derived from the ex- 
port of tobacco, and who appointed every magistrate and exe- 
cutive officer in Maryland, while Penn did not appoint one 
officer. 

The people received the announcement of this constitution 
with surprise and gratitude. Never was a government estab- 
lished, giving such freedom to the people to alter it ; but it re- 
mains essentially the same to this day. 

A free society of traders was also organized, in which every 
one might be concerned who would, but have the liberty of 
private traffic also. 

Penn landed at Newcastle in 1682 ; and near the court-house, 
in the open air, the Duke of York's agent delivered to him 
earth and water, and Penn addressed the people, pledging him- 
self to respect their rights and freedom. He then went up to 
Chester, and was hospitably received by the farmers and 
herdsmen there. Proceeding still further up the river, whose 
beautiful banks were fringed with pine trees, he surveyed the 
spot where Philadelphia was to be built. He subseq^uently 
visited the Jerseys, New York, and the Friends or Long Is- 
land. But the most memorable scene was at Shakamaxen, 
where, on the northern edge of Philadelphia, under a large 
elm tree, he met the delegation of the Lenni-Lenape. "I will 
not call you children," said he, " for parents sometimes chide 
children too severely ; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. 
The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a 
chain; for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might 
break. We are the same as if one man's body Avere divided 
into two parts ; we are all one flesh and blood." 

The children of the forest received his presents and gave 



112 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

him tlieir belts of wamptim, replying ; '^ we will live in love 
witli William Penn and his children, as long as the moon and 
sun shall endure." Both parties were faithful to this treaty, 
which was confirmed by no oaths, ratified by no signatures 
or seals, written no where but on the heart. And it was never 
violated, for the Indians who came down on the back settlements 
in the old French War, had no relations with the Lenni 
Lenape. It was once said that five hundred Delawares, were 
assembled to concert a massacre. Caleb Pusey and five other 
fliends went to them unarmed and said ; " The Great God who 
made all mankind extends his love to Indians and English. 
The rain and the dews fall alike on the ground of both ; the 
sun shines on us equally, and we ought to love one another." 
The griefs of the tribes were then inquired into and comforted. 
The king of the Delawares, whether guilty or not, expressed 
indignation at the accusation of planning a massacre. He 
replied " What you say is true. Go home and harvest the 
corn God has given you. We intend you no harm." 

News immediately spread through Europe, that William 
Penn had opened an asylum to the good and oppressed of 
every nation; and emigrants — not only from the British 
Islands and the Low countries, but from Germany, which had 
hardly yet breathed from the Thirty years War, crowded upon 
the banks of the Schuylkill. They remembered the eloquence 
of " the Quaker king," when he had travelled in Holland and 
Germany, just after his imprisonment in England, for his 
fajth in the inner guide. " There is nothing in the history of 
the human race," says Bancroft, " like the confidence which the 
simple virtues and institutions of William Penn inspired. 
The progress of his province was more rapid than the progress 
of New England. * * * In three years from its foundation, 
Philadelphia gained more than New York had done in half 
a century." 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 

But William Penn did not remain in America at that time, 
more than two years. He returned to England, where he 
endeavored to mitigate the horrors of religious persecution, 
not without some immediate effect. His friend James Logan 
continued in Pennsylvania to watch over his interests, but the 
assembly of the province never repaid by their appropriations 
the outlay that Penn made upon the colony. His noble sacri- 
fices were accepted by Divine providence and repaid in 
another kind than base coin, There is one circumstance 
which occurred during his short stay, which ought to be men- 
tioned, because it shows the actual advance of his own prac- 
tical mind beyond the prejudices of his age. A witch was 
cited before his tribunal. The case was as clearly proved as 
any one, but she was dismissed, on bonds being given by her 
friends, that she should "keep the peace." This was 20 
years before the witchcraft murders of Massachusetts. And, 
what is still more noteworthy, there were 130,000 cases of 
capital punishment for witchcraft executed afterward in 
Europe ! . 

In 1691, finding that the lower counties were jealous of 
the superior influence of the upper ones, William Penn con- 
stituted the commonwealth of Delaware into a separate 
self-government under his deputy, Markham ; and this there- 
fore is the date of its individuality. Bancroft in his Chapter 
XIX, gives the details of all the political difficulties, and an 
account of the appointment of a Royal Commissioner by 
William and Mary's government, Avho had arbitrarily united 
the two grants, and with whom there was much struggle for 
popular privileges. When William Penn came again to 
Am^erica, in 1699, he confirmed all freedoms that had been 
gained. He had been hindered from going to America by 
William and Mary's government, from which he had endured 



114 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

much persecution. His provinces liad involved him in ex- 
penses, rather than given him income ; and Bancroft says, his 
poverty created in him a willingness to surrender them to 
the crown, but to have given up his proprietary rights would 
have put the people wholly at the mercy of an arbitrary 
government. " He insisted on preserving the colonial lib- 
erties, and the crown hardly cared to buy a democracy. If 
the violent conflicts of the Assemblies, in their eagerness to 
engross all authority, and gain control over the questions of 
property between the province and its proprietary, seemed 
sometimes to compel the surrender of his powers of govern- 
ment, yet the bare apprehension of sucli a result always 
brought the colonists to a gentler temper."* 

But the government had some incompatible elements. It 
was a democracy and a feudal sovereignty at once, and the 
political history of Pennsylvania became an ineffectual attempt 
to harmonize the discordant elements. As a social principle 
Quakerism worked wonders. It is said that there are yet re- 
maining townships, where this influence is in the ascendancy, 
that for successive years have had no magistracy, because 
there has been no occasion for a justice of peace to take out 
his commission ; where, within the memory of man, there 
have been no cases of assault and battery ; townships without 
constables, or lawyers, or clergymen, settling their own dis- 
putes by mutual, peaceful arbitration. May not this be the 
natural result of Penn's great idea, that man's first endeavors 
should be to govern himself by Divine Law revealed to him ; 
and of his constant appeals to \)iiQ better elements of human 
nature ? He omitted from the criminal code of his province 
an hundred and fifty crimes which were made capital offences 

* For much interesting detail of the early history of Delaware, see 
" Reminiscences of Wilmington," hy Miss Montgomery. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 115 

in England.* But wars came on witli tlie Indians, who had 
had no immediate relation with William Penn, and who were 
set on hy the French on the Ohio, in the period of the old 
French war. The Quakers had no measures to propose which 
conld meet the case, and in their spirit of non-resistance, re- 
tired from office. This was at the time that Franklin was made 
commander of the military force against the Indians. The 
Hevolutionary war presented another problem which baffled 
their councils. They could do nothing but retire from the 
government, which now shows little trace of their influence. 

Bancroft, in his chapter XYI., has given a beautiful memoir 
of William Penn ; and he says in conclusion, " Thus did Penn 
perfect hi* government : an executive, dependent for its sup- 
port on the people ; all subordinate executive officers elected 
by the people ; the judiciary dependent for its existence on 
the people ; no forts, no armed police, no militia, perfect free- 
dom of opinion ; no established church ; and a harbor opened 
for the reception of all mankind." 

Penn's rights were purchased by Pennsylvania, when it 
became free, with the rest of the United States, at the devol- 
ution. And G-reat Britain allowed his family a pension in lieu 
of sustaining their chartered rights. 

LESSON XVII. 

Who gave name to Pennsylvania, and who was he 1 What 
was his history ? Out of what circumstance grew his grant of 
a province ? What was the grant ? What reservations of 
power were made in the grant 1 From whom were the grants 
of Pennsylvania and of Delaware severally received '? What 
was the grant of the Duke of York 1 When and by whom 

* They liad no capital crime but murder. They had to struggle with 
the royal commissioner to keep up this mild code. 



116 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

was Delaware colonized 1 What became of De Vries' col- 
ony ? What was the history of the colony instituted by the 
city of Amsterdam afterward ? What happened in 1638 and 
1655 ? What was the principle of the government Penn in- 
stituted ? What letters did the first company of his emigrants 
bring to the settlers, and to the Indians ? What was his 
plan of Philadelphia ? How was the legislature to be chosen 1 
How, the Governor's council ? What prerogatives had Penn 
as governor ? What difference was there between his and Lord 
Baltimore's prerogatives ? How did the people receive this 
constitution, and how have they acted with reference to it 1 
Where did Penn land in 1682 ? and what ceremony took 
place ? Where did he go next ? What was th« scene at 
Shakamaxen ? Did the Eenni Lenape ever violate the treaty ? 
How did Caleb Pusey and a few friends act, on occasion of a 
rumor of an intended massacre, at one time ? Why and 
whence did emigrants come ? What does Bancroft say of 
of the progress of the colony ? How long did Penn stay in 
America at first ? What did he do in England on his return ? 
Who stayed to vv^atch over his interests ? Did the assembly 
of the Province ever repay Penn for his outlay ? What judi- 
cial sentence of his, marks his superiority to his age in gene- 
ral ? Why and when was Delaware separated from Pennsyl- 
vania ? What changes had occurred under William and 
Mary's government ? When did Penn go to America again, 
and why not sooner ? Why did he wish to surrender his 
provinces, and why did he not do it ? Did the people wish 
him to surrender his rights ? What incompatible elements 
had the government ? What was the effect of Quakerism as 
a social principle ? What was the difference of the penal code 
of England and Pennsylvania ? How came the Quakers to 
retire from the helm of government ? Who was the com- 
mander against the Indians in the Old French war ? When 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 

did they finally lose their influence in the government ? How 
does Bancroft describe Penn's government ? 



French Settlements and Wars. 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the religious 
wars of France being closed by the Edict of Nantz, which, 
though it granted toleration to Protestants, left France a de- 
cidedly Catholic power ; the enthusiasm of discovery awoke 
again with the peace, and Champlain undertook the settle- 
ment of Canada. De Monts, under his patronage, founded 
Portroyal, in Acadia, in 1605— the first permanent settlement; 
and he himself founded Quebec in 1608. Mr. Bancroft, in his 
twentieth chapter, shows that religious zeal had as much to do 
with the French settlements in Canada as with the English 
settlements in New England. He gives an interesting account 
of the martyr sacrifices made by the good Jesuits to baptize 
the Indians ; which rite they believed would save their souls. 
They went wherever the fur-traders ventured, and contributed 
largely to their success. For they had great success in con- 
verting the poor natives. They traversed the whole region of 
the great lakes, and Father Marquette, in company with the 
fur-trader, Joliet, discovered the Mississippi, near its source, 
ten years before La Salle sailed down that great river to the 
gulf of Mexico, in 1682. 

It was, in the beginning of the century, the plan of Cham- 
plain, to attach to the French the tribes of Indians on the St. 
Lawrence ; and, in order to do this, he very soon undertook 
to espouse their quarrel with " the Five Nations," who were a 
powerful confederacy in the interior of New York, called by 
the French the Iroquois. He therefore joined the Hurons and 
Algonquins in an expedition, in which he first displayed to 
the astonished natives the power of European fire-arms. Of 



118 CHKONOLOaiCAL HISTOEY 

course, lie conquered them in the first battle ; but he did not 
succeed in making them sue for peace ; on the contrary, he 
excited an hostility against the French which never slept, 
and which ultimately gave to the Dutch and English their 
formidable alliance. Only individuals of the Iroquois were 
ever converted to Catholicism ; but these individuals were ex- 
traordinary trophies of the power of the Jesuits to inspire the 
spirit of martyrdom. Kip's account of the early Jesuit mis- 
sions, in Wiley & Putnam's Library of American Books, gives 
most touching details of the Iroquois saints and martyrs. 

Motives, therefore, derived both from the interests of trade 
and religion, kept up a continual hostility between the Eng- 
lish and French settlers. In 1613, Argall, the same Virginia 
captain who had stolen Pocahontas from her father, made an 
expedition against Portroyal, and pillaged it, to express the 
English idea that the French had no right to settle on the 
coast of North America. In 1629, a war between England 
and France led to an attempt to conquer Quebec, which 
Champlain was obliged to surrender. But the peace of 1629 
restored to France not only this place, but Portroyal also ; 
and in 1630 Montreal was founded, quite as much by the 
Jesuits as by the fur traders, though it became a metropolis 
for both. In 1686 they built Fort Niagara. 

When the war between the French and English broke out 
in the last years of the century, the burning of Schenectady 
may show the character of the war in America. Louis XIV. 
had directed the conquest of New York, and his general began 
by an attempt to gain the Iroquois, which failed. A party of 
Canadian Indians, with some of the emigrant Christian Iro- 
quois, was led from Montreal by the French, and waded 
through snows for twenty-two days, arriving at Schenectady 
when the whole village was asleep. The war whoop was 
raised, the houses set on fire, and sixty of the inhabitants were 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 

massacred by tlie Indians, while tlie rest of them fled through 
a cold snow storm, half-dressed, to Albany, most of them 
ruined in constitution and crippled for life. Similar scenes 
took place in New Hampshire and Maine, at York, Oyster 
Bay, and Haverhill. Bancroft, in his chapter twenty-second, 
tells all the particulars. "Once,'' he says, "a mother achieved 
a startling revenge. Hannah Dustin, of Haverhill, with her 
nurse and a boy, were carried off to an island in the Merrimac. 
The boy said one day to his Indian master, * Where would 
you strike to kill instantly ? ' The Indian told him where, 
and how to scalp. At night, while the Indians were asleep, 
the two women and boy so bettered the lesson, that they killed 
ten sleepers, and wounded one, (a squaw,) and Hannah Dus- 
tin escaped to Haverhill, with a bag full of scalps, together 
with the gun and tomahawk which had murdered her husband 
and child when she was taken prisoner." The peace of Hys- 
wick closed this war in 1697. But the French colonization 
spirit was not quenched. D 'Iberville, who had been one of 
the leaders of the massacre of Schenectady, founded Biloxi, on 
the Mississippi, in 1699. 

LESSON XVIII. 

When and why did Champlain undertake the settlement of 
Canada ? What and when were the first permanent settlements 
made 1 What does Mr. Bancroft prove with respect to the 
motives of these settlements 1 Who discovered the Mississippi 
sources ? Who first sailed down that river and when 1 What 
was Champlain's plan 1 What did he do in consequence ? 
With what success and failure? What is said about the 
Iroquois converts ? What were the first hostilities of the 
English, and why ? What changes came by the peace of 
1629 1 Who founded Montreal and when ? When did they 



120 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

build Fort Niagara ? What was the cause of the war in the 
last part of the century 1 What do you remember of the 
massacre of Schenectady ? Where else were such scenes en- 
acted ? What story is told of Hannah Dustin ? What 
closed the war ? What other colony did the French found in 
the century. 



CHEONOLOGIOAL TABLE OF THE 18th OENTUEY. 

1701. French found Detroit, Kaskaskia, &c. 

1704. French and Indian Massacre at Deerfield, N. H. 

1708. French and Indian Massacre at Haverhill, IST. H. 

1710. English Conquer Portroyal in Acadia. 

1713. Peace of Utrecht restores all conquests to France. 

1715. Tuscarooras — driven from South Carolina by German 

Emigrants — join the Five Nations. 
1725. Death of the Jesuit Missionary Hale in Maine. 
1728, Destruction of the Natchez tribe by the French. 

1732. George Washington, born in Virginia. 

1733. Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe. 

1742. Oglethorpe and Indians drive Spaniards from Georgia. 
1745. Louisburg captured by William Pepperell of Boston. 
1748. Peace of Aix-le-Chapelle restores it to France. 
1750. Franklin's experiments on electricity? 

1754. Washington's mission t(3 the French, at Venango. 

His victory at Great Meadows. 

1755. Braddock defeated by French. Acadians expelled. 

1758. Final capture of Louisburg by the English. 

1759. Quebec captured. Wolfe and Montcalm both fall. 

1760. English conquer Canada and the French lose it. 
1763. Peace of Paris. — Pontiac's great conspiracy. 
1765. Stamp Act, which is repealed the next year. 
1767. Parliament imposes duties on tea, &c. 



"^ 



^^S-; 









m^ 



,%tt 






OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 

1769. Pontiac makes peace. He is assassinated. 

1770. Boston Massacre. Otis' and Quincy's magnanimity. 

1773. 'Boston Tea party,' and other demonstrations. 

1774. Boston Port-bill. First General Congress at "New 

York. 

1775. Battle of Lexington begins Revolutionary War, 

April 19tb ; followed by the taking of Ticonderoga, 
Crownpoint and Wbiteliall, in May, and Battle of 
Bunker hill in June. Montgomery is killed at 
Quebec; Washington made General-in-Chief by 
Continental Congress, assembled in Pennsylvania. 

1776. Independence Declaeed, July 4th. Washington 

drives the British from Boston, March 17th ; loses 
the battle of Brooklyn and Whiteplains soon after; 
American victories at Ft. Moultrie, and at Trenton. 

1777. Victories at Princeton, Sag Harbour, and in Con- 

necticut ; at Bennington, Stillwater and Saratoga. 
Embassy to France for help. 

1778. French Alliance. Victory at Valley Forge. Defeat 

on Quaker Hill. Savannah taken by the British. 
Massacre at Wyoming by Tories and Indians. 

1779. Victory of Pickens, near Augusta. Wyoming avenged, 

but defeats generally, especially at the South. 

1780. Victories at Hanging Eock and King's Mountain. 

Arnold's treason. Andre's death. French rein- 
forcement. 

1781. Victories at Cowpens ; Guilford Meeting House ; 

Eutaw Springs, and Yorktown, end the war. 
1683. England acknowledges Independance of U. S. 
1787. Shay's rebellion. Constituent Convention. 

1789. Federal Union. Washington, 1st President. 

1790. Indian War. Harmer defeated. 

1791. St. Clair defeated. Vermont admitted into the Union, 

6 



122 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1792. Kentucky separated from Virginia, and admitted. 

1794. Jay's Treaty. Wayne ends tlie Indian War. 

1795. A kind of treaty with the Barbary States. 

1797. John Adams, 2nd President of the United States. 

1798. Short French War, altogether naval. 

1799. Washington's death. Tennessee admitted. 

1800. Federal Government removes to Washington. Treaty 

of peace with Bonaparte. 



LESSON XIX. — Table and Plate of the Eighteenth 

Century.* 

How does the Plate represent the French founding Detroit, 
&c., in 1701'? How does it represent the French and Indian 
massacres in 1704 and 1708? the English conquest of Acadia? 
Peace of Utrecht? Death of Rale? Tuscaroora emigration? 
Washington's birth? Georgia founded? Oglethorpe and In- 
dians' war ? Louisburg captured ? Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ? 
Franklin's discoveries? Washington's mission? His victory 
at G. M. ? Braddock's defeat ? Expulsion of Acadians ? Lou- 
isburg taken? Quebec taken? Wolfe's and Montcalm's death? 
French surrender of Canada ? Peace of Paris ? Pontiac's con- 
spiracy ? His death ? Stamp act ? Duties on tea, &c. ? Boston 
massacre? Otis and Quincy's magnanimity? Tea party? Port 
bill ? First general Congress ? Battle of Lexington, &c.? (The 
pupils can easily answer the above questions, by saying what 
subdivision of what year is painted, and with what color, and 
in what shape ; whether square, parallelogram, or triangle. 
But in the years of the war the representation is general, and 

* Let tlie pupils have the Plate before their eyes, and describe carefully 
these representations, keeping in mind the subdivision into ninths, even 
where it is not marked off. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 

the wliole sq[iiares aA:Q filled, to represent the importance of the 
events. Thus, say for the year 1775 : The whole square is 
first divided into two triangles ; the upper one orange, to rep- 
resent the conquering Americans in all the battles of the year; 
the ninth subdivision orange, to represent Montgomery's 
death, the first officer killed ; the rest is purple, to represent 
the discomfited British. The year 1776 is nearly filled with 
the orange, as it was so great an epoch in America. The 
British loss is represented by the third subdivision, painted 
purple. The painting is made as various as is possible, con- 
sidering the general rules laid down in the explanation of the 
Painted Centuries. To ask these questions on the Table, and 
to vary the questions in every ingenious way, requiring the 
pupils to examine the painted Plate, helps to fix the attention, 
and secure the recollection of it with the associated events. 
A life-long impression is what is aimed at. The general suc- 
cess of 1777, including the victory over Burgoyne at Saratoga, 
is represented by the upper triangle, in orange ; and the em- 
bassy to the French, by the blue triangle of the sixth subdi- 
vision. The general misfortunes of 1778, especially in the 
South, are represented by the lower triangle, in orange. The 
French alliance, also, by the blue in the sixth subdivision. 
The French assistance, under Rochambeau, is represented in 
the sixth subd. 1780 by orange and blue ; Arnold's treason, 
by orange, in the eighth ; Andre's death, by purple, in the 
ninth ; the American victories in the South, by the upper tri- 
angle of the first, in orange, and the lower one in purple ; the 
final victory at Yorktown, by the blue and orange triangles in 
the upper half of the year and square for 1781, and the purple 
in the lower triangle. The English acknowledgment of Inde- 
pendence, by the purple around the orange in the year square 
for 1783. The whole square is orange, to represent the adop- 
tion of the Constitution of the Federal Union. 



124 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 



Georgia. 



In the early part of the eighteentli century, a thirteenth 
colony was added to the twelve planted by the English in the 
seventeenth century. It was on the first day of February, 
1733, that a small sloop entered the Savannah river, and sail- 
ing up to the present site of the town so named, disembarked 
a company of English emigrants, who erected a tent under 
four beautiful pine trees, where, for more than a year, dwelt 
James Oglethorpe, the parent as well as founder of the colony 
of Georgia. 

Oglethorpe was a member of the British Parliament, and 
" the first in the annals of legislative philanthropy," says 
Bancroft, " who attempted to lighten the lot of debtors." In 
England, " every year, as many as four thousand of these un- 
fortunates" were doomed to imprisonment, being liable to it for 
the smallest debt. For their relief, George II., on the petition 
of Oglethorpe, made to him a grant of the country between 
the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, which was named Georgia, 
in honor of the royal donor. 

But Oglethorpe did not confine his invitations to emigrate 
to the poor debtors of England ; he extended them to poor 
Protestants of the continent, where a reaction from the wars 
for liberty of conscience had taken place, and everything was 
tending towards the despotism already consolidated in Ger- 
manic Austria and Prussia, as well as in Keltic and Homanic 
France and Spain. The Society for .the Propagation of the 
Gospel in England was immediately addressed by a party of 
German Moravians, with a petition to assist them in emigrat- 
ing to Georgia. Their passage was paid by the Society, with 
provisions for a year, and Oglethorpe granted them land rent 
free for ten years, when they were to pay a small quit rent. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 

Freedom of worsWp, and all tlie rights enjoyed by English- 
men, were also guaranteed. Bancroft tells all about this in- 
teresting emigration in his chapter twenty -fourth. 

Oglethorpe's relations with the Indians Avere in keeping 
with the rest of his humane actions. The first red chieftain 
who treated with him, brought him a buffalo skin, on the in- 
side of which an eagle was represented, by means of an arrange- 
ment of his own feathers. " There is a little present for you," 
said he. " The buffalo skin is warm, and means protection ; 
the feathers of the eagle signify love." The treaty that Ogle- 
thorpe made with the children of the forest was not violated 
for a century. The tribes were of a gentle character, and 
already cultivating their lands. They became most important 
allies against the Spaniards, with whom Oglethorpe came into 
collision on the question of boundaries. Oglethorpe was a 
gallant soldier, and in the war, 1742, succeeded, by a series 
of brave actions, to stretch his domain from the Altamaha to the 
St. Mary's river, though the Spaniards at first claimed even 
to the Savannah. 

The trading interests of England favored the colony of 
Georgia, which intended forthwith to cultivate the vine and 
the silk-worm. The device for its seal was a group of silk- 
worms at work, with the motto : " Not for ourselves, but others." 
On the reverse was a female figure — Georgia Augusta — ^be- 
tween two river gods reposing on their urns. She had a liberty 
cap on her head, a spear in one hand, and a horn of plenty in 
the other. But, as Bancroft says, " the cap of liberty was, for 
that time at least, a false emblem ; for all executive and legis- 
lative power, and the institution of courts, were for twenty- 
one years given exclusively to the trustees, or to a council 
which they appointed to serve during good behavior. The 
trustees — men of benevolence and leisure, but ignorant of the 
nature and value of popular liberty — ^held their grants to con- 



126 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTOEY 

tain but proper powers for establishing and governing the 
colony." 

Savannah was laid out with regularity, in 1734, a public 
square being reserved in each quarter ; while a walk through 
the woods led to a garden on the river side, which was des- 
tined to be a nursery of European fruit, as well as of the 
wonderful productions of America. The next year, Augusta, 
already a station for the Indian trade, was laid out as a city. 
The Moravians established themselves at Ebenezer, as they 
called their village, on an inland site. The Moravian pastor, 
some years after, wrote thus of Oglethorpe : " He has taken 
care of us, to the best of his ability. He bears a great love to 
the children and servants of God." The Governor of South 
Carolina said of him : " His undertaking will succeed, for he 
nobly devotes all his powers to serve the poor and rescue 
them from wretchedness." Charles Wesley was Oglethorpe's 
private secretary, and soon came out, together with his brother 
John, to reside in America, the latter " eager to become an 
apostle to the Indians." The intercourse of the Wesleys with 
the Moravians in Georgia, doubtless contributed to the devel- 
opment of Methodism in their minds. Later, George Whitfield 
came out, and '* founded an orphan-house in Savannah, which 
he sustained by contributions that his eloquence extorted" 
from the other colonies where he travelled and preached. 

Oglethorpe was thirty years of age when he founded the 
colony of Georgia, and he lived to be eighty, devoting half a 
century to its interests. " Even in his last year," Bancroft 
says, " he was extolled as the finest figure ever seen, the im- 
personation of venerable age ; his faculties were as bright as 
ever, and his eyesight undimmed. Ever heroic, romantic, and 
full of the old gallantry, he was like the sound of the lyre 
as it still vibrates, after the spirit of the age that swept its 
strings has passed away." 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 

But, after all, lie was a man wlio did not compreliend the 
spirit of the age in which he lived. Bancroft describes him 
" of honorable lineage, from boyhood devoted to the profession 
of arms ; by hereditary attachment, and by personal charac- 
ter, a friend to legitimacy ; the representative of that chivalry 
which knew neither fear nor reproach, and felt a stain on 
honor like a wound ; * * * filled with the sentiment of humanity, 
yet having a predeliction for hierarchical forms ; revering the 
institutions of aristocracy, with a genuine faith in them, and 
willing to protect the humble, rather than surrender power 
and establish equality ; * * * a monarchist in state, friendly to 
the church, he seemed even in youth, one who had survived 
his times, the relic of a former century, and of a more chival- 
rous age ; illustrating to the modern world of business, what 
a crowd of virtues and charities could cluster round the heart 
of a cavalier." 

But because he was behind his time, on the question of 
popular liberty, his legislation did not survive him. After 
the royal government was established, not only its bad fea- 
tures, like his system of male entailment of property, but all 
its peculiar characteristics passed into oblivion. For twenty- 
five years before his death, he ceased to struggle against negro 
slavery, whose introduction, he says, was " the irresistable 
effect of the royal government established in 1757." It had 
been a favorite object of his, to check negro slavery, though 
at the time the proceeds of the trade were a vast revenue to 
England. " My friends and I," he writes, " by charter were 
established trustees, and settled the colony of Georgia. We 
determined not to suffer slavery there. * * * Slavery is against 
the gospel, as well as against the fundamental law of Eng- 
land. We refused — as trustees — to make a law, permitting 
such a horrid crime." Within three years of the settlement 
of Savannah, when Oglethorpe was in England, the planters 



128 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

addressed to the trustees a petition " for tlie use of negroes." 
" They were sternly refused," and Oglethorpe declared, that "if 
slaves should be introduced into the colony, he would have 
no farther concern with it." The trustees in general " ap- 
plauded his decision" and persisted in denying the use of 
negroes, " even though the planters should desert." 

The history which Bancroft gives in his Twenty-fourth Chap- 
ter of the relations of American Slavery to the English govern- 
ment, clearly shows that its existence in the colonies grew out of 
the all prevailing commercial spirit, which dates its complete 
development in England, to the revolution of 1688. For purely 
commercial reasons, the government of England, at first even 
forbade to Georgia the traffic and use of negroes, " on account 
of the near neighborhood of the Spaniards ;" and because (to 
use their own words) " slaves starve the poor white labourer, 
for whose benefit the charter of Georgia was given." The 
Moravians, at first, in earnest memorials, deprecated the em- 
ployment of negro slaves ; pleading *' the ability of the white 
man to labor, even under the suns of Georgia." Subse- 
quently they yielded their objection to the suggestion, that 
the negroes might perhaps be employed to their own benefit, 
since they would be brought from Paganism in Africa, to the 
possible knov/ledge of Christianity. At any rate, in spite of 
Oglethorpe's opposition, backed by his friend John Wesley, 
who characterized the system as " the sum of all villanies," 
slavery was introduced into Georgia. Afterwards, the plant- 
ing of cotton, but more especially the invention of the cotton 
gin in 1792, established completely this child of commerce. 
Georgia, with South Carolina, held out in the Federal Con- 
vention, refusing to join the Union until a compromise was 
made with Slavery.* 

'■' See Madison papers, for the action of Georgia in 178f-9 upon 
Slavery. They have in 1855, with South Caiolina, taken the ground that 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 129 



LESSON XX.— Georgia. 

When was Georgia colonized 1 by whom ? What philan- 
thropy was he engaged in 1 What connection had this with 
the colonization of Georgia 1 Whom did Oglethorpe invite 
into his colony ; What political circumstances in Europe sug- 
gested this invitation to his humanity 1 What do you remem- 
ber of the immigration of Moravians to Georgia 1 What do 
you remember of Oglethorpe's relations with the Indians ? 
How did the Indians requite his kindness? In what war, and 
to what issue, was he engaged in 1742 ? What agricultural 
plans had the Georgians 'i What were the devices on the seal 
of Georgia ? How was Georgia governed 1 What towns 
were laid out, and how 1 What did the Moravians say of 
Oglethorpe? What did the Governor of South Carolina say? 
What distinguished persons of the religious world immigrated 
into Georgia? What kind of a person was Oglethorpe ? How 
was he behind his time ? Did his legislation survive him ? 
When, and by what influence, was negro slavery established 
in Georgia ? What views were taken by Oglethorpe, and the 
trustees, on this question, and how did they act ? What does 
Bancroft prove by his chapter on the subject ? Why had the 
English government previously forbidden it ? How did the 
Moravians view the subject? What, at last, established 
slavery firmly ? 

LESSON XXL — French and Indian Wars. 

What possessions did the peace of E-yswick assure to 
France? Did their missionaries keep within that border? 

Slavery makes the best kind of society, and that liberty is not good for 
all men. 

6* 



130 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Where did tliey "build forts in 1701 ? What caused the fre- 
quent wars between the French and English colonies ? What 
antagonisms and rivalries stimulated if? What caused the 
*' war of the Spanish succession," called " Queen Anne's war?" 
Why was it peculiarly horrible in America? Was it extensive 
in America ? What place was conq[uered, and changed its 
name? What do you remember about the massacre of Deer- 
field, N. H., in 1704 1 What of Eunice Williams and her 
daughter % What about the massacre of Haverhill 1 What 
treaty closed this war ? What were its terms ? What do 
you remember of the Tuscaroora tribe of Indians, in 1715? 
What was the cause? What of the war with the Tamasees? 
What was the cause of a treaty with the Cherokees ? What 
places were founded in 1716 and 1718? What do you re- 
member of the Natchez, and their destruction by the French ? 
What excited the Abenakis of Maine to war ? What did the 
government of Massachusetts do in this war ? What exploit 
of Captain Westbrook is recorded, in 1723 ? What excited 
Massachusetts to these things ? Which party succeeded best 
as missionaries, and why? What do you remember of the 
missionary Rale (pronounced E-ahl, sometimes written E.asle) 1 
What is the story of his martyrdom ? When did the Aben- 
akis make a treaty with the English ? What caused the 
" war of the Austrian succession ?" What was its most im- 
portant event in America 1 Give an account of the capture 
of Louisburg. What was the peace of Aix-la-Ohapelle in re- 
lation to this country 1 How were the colonists compensated 
for giving up Louisburg again ? 

LESSON XXIL— Old French War. 

Which of the five French wars is traditionally called " The 
old French war ?" What caused this war ? What did Wash- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 

ington do preliminary to this war ? Tell about his mission. 
What was the commencement of the bloodshed ? What forts 
were built, and why ? What campaign was planned for 1755, 
and by whom ? Who planned, and what was the expulsion 
of the Acadians ? What American authors have immortalized 
this story in art? How did Braddock succeed? How, Shir- 
ley and Johnson ? What efforts were made by the colonists 
to carry on this war ? Which side seemed to lose, at first ? 
How large an army was raised by the English, in 1758 ? How 
large was the Canadian army ? What was the whole popula- 
tion of Canada ? Were the English army all colonists ? What 
places were immediately stormed and taken ? What did the 
British Parliament do, in 1759, to encourage the colonies ? 
What was the greatest act of the war ? Describe the position 
of Quebec, and the positions taken by Wolfe and Montcalm, 
respectively. What was Wolfe's first attempt ? What was 
his next movement, in the night of September 12th ? What 
happened the next morning ? What was the battle, and its 
issue ? When was Canada surrendered to the British ? When 
was the treaty of peace signed ? 

PoNTiAc's Conspiracy. 

What effect had the French surrender of Canada upon the 
position of the Indians ? Which nation did the Indians like 
best ? Why 1 What remarkable prophecy was spread about 
among the Indians ? Who was Pontiac 1 What was his plan ? 
On what hope did he support himself 1 Who strengthened 
this hope, and why ? Who has written a brilliant history of 
this conspiracy? How did he get his information ? Does his 
book give a fair account of the Indians ? How many forts did 
Pontiac undertake to surprise ? Did he succeed, and how ? 
How was Detroit saved ? Did the Indians persevere in their 



132 CHROKOLOGICAL HISTOKY 

atteuiiDts against it ? Did they make any other massacres ? 
What fort was relieved before the Indians took it ? Did the 
French do any thing to aid the Indians ? How long did Pon- 
tiac keep up his confederation, after he found that the French 
would not assist him ? When and why did he make peace? 
What became of him ? How was his death avenged ? 



French and Indian Wars of the 18th Century. 

The peace of Ryswick, in 1697, had assured to France the 
country north of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence, and 
west of the Mississippi ; but the boundary was not very defin- 
ite. Their missionary stations were, many of them, south of 
the St. Lawrence ; even down upon the Penobscot and Ken- 
nebec in the east ; and in the west, in the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, they built forts at Detroit, Kaskaskia, 
and many other places."^ Whenever there was war in Europe 
between France and England, the colonies of the two nations 
participated, stimulated by the opposition of religious opinion, 
and by the rival trading interests of the fishing and fur com- 
panies of both countries. 

The war of the Spanish succession, called in America Queen 
Anne's War, involved most of Europe ; England and Austria 
opposing Louis XIY's scheme of putting his grandson on the 
throne of Spain, which, however, he finally accomplished. 
Both parties in America engaged Indians in their armies, 
which made this war horrible. It raged on the Lakes and 
down the Mississippi, and involved the Spanish settlement of 
St. Augustine, which was twice taken and lost by the South 
Carolinians. Acadia was then reconc^uered by the English, 

* See Bancroft, xxi. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 138 

who changed its name to Nova Scotia, and the name of Port 
Royal to Annapolis, (Anne's city). 

The massacres of Deerfield and Haverhill show the charac- 
ter of this war. Hertel de Ronville, in February of 1704, 
with 200 French, and 142 Indians, walked on the snow crnst 
all the way from Canada, to attack Deerfield, N. H. The 
generally vigilant sentinels who watched, as all the border 
was watched, had rather carelessly retired towards morning, 
and were aroused, with the rest of the village, by the war- 
whoop. A hundred and twelve captives were taken, besides 
forty-seven killed ; and every house in the village, except the 
church, was in ashes, by an hour after sunrise. The party im- 
mediately started for Canada with their captives. A recent 
mother — Eunice Williams — the minister's wife, who fainted on 
the way, was dispatched by the tomahawk. So was every 
child that cried. Two men starved. Eunice Williams' daugh- 
ter, seven years of age, was carried to a Catholic village of 
Indians, near Montreal, and there made a Catholic, and the 
wife of a Cahnewaga chief. Years after, she went back to 
Deerfield to visit her relations ; but would return to her In- 
dian home, in spite of the whole village, that instituted Sifast, 
and assembled to pray for her conversion. 

Four years after, the same French officer, De Ronville, at- 
tacked Haverhill, then a cluster of thirty cottages and log 
cabins, around a newly erected meeting-house. The invaders 
slept in the surrounding forest on the night of August 29tli' 
At daybreak, the war-whoop rang out, and the cry of the dy- 
ing arose. " Benjamin Rolfe, the minister, was beaten to 
death ; one Indian sank a hatchet deep into the brain of his 
wife, while another caught his infant child from its dying 
mother, and dashed his head against a stone." The attacks 
in all the houses were simultaneous, but there was an attempt 
at resistance, and the invaders were at last driven ofP, though 



134: CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

not till tlie day was far advanced, and a multitude had been 
killed. Tlie burial ground of Haverhill still tells tlie fearful 
tale. Tlie wliole country was in a perpetual alarm, and on 
watch. 

The treaty of Utrecht closed Queen Anne's war in 1713 ; 
and settled a good deal of the Northern boundary in favor of 
■ the English, besides arranging what is now called the " balance 
of power" in Europe; and securing a monopoly of the trade in 
negroes to England ! " Her Britannic majesty did offer and 
undertake," such are. the words of the treaty, " to bring into 
the West Indies of America, belonging to his Catholic majesty 
(of Spain), 144,000 negroes, at the rate of 4,800 in each of the 
next succeeding thirty years." This stipulation had such con- 
sequences for America, that it should be mentioned here. The 
British government derived a great revenue from the slave 
trade, and even South Carolina complained of "the ruinous 
influx of slaves." 

The Tuscarooras of Carolina, were expelled from their na- 
tive hunting grounds, soon after this peace. Going North, in 
1718, they joined the '' Five nations" — afterwards called "Six 
Nations." The immediate cause of the massacres on the 
Neuse that led to this expulsion, was an attempt of some G-er- 
man emigrants from the Palatinate, to survey lands which the 
Tuscarooras claimed. Bancroft tells the details of this affair 
in his XXIII chapter ; also of a war with the Yamasees, which 
cost South Carolina 400 of its inhabitants, and was believed to 
have been excited by the French. 

This war with the Yamasees was soon followed by a treaty 
of alliance between the English and the Cherokees, whose 
country interposed a barrier of defence against the Indians on 
the Mississippi, who were in alliance with the French. 

At Natchez, the French had built Fort Eosalie, in 1716 ; 
and in 1718 New Orleans was founded, to carry out the finan- 



OP THE UNITED STATES. 135 

cial schemes of Jolin Law. The destruction of the Natchez 
Indians occurred about ten years after. Ohopart, one of the 
French of Fort Rosalie, demanded the site of the village of 
the Natchez for a plantation. This tribe was, if possible, 
more than usually attached to their locality. It was the resi- 
dence of "the Great Sun," as they called their chief, (for 
these people had a peculiar religion and customs, and seem to 
have had some affinity to Inca-governed Peru.) Hearing of 
Ohopart's wish, they were beforehand with him, and rose and 
murdered all the French, among others a Jesuit missionary 
to the Arkansaws, who happened to be passing at the time in 
a boat on the river Mississippi. When the French at New 
Orleans heard of this, they were terrified, and by means of the 
Indian disciples of the murdered priest, and the Yazoos, to- 
gether with the Illinois tribes, who were under the influence 
of the French Jesuits, and the Ohoctaws, who were hereditary 
enemies of the Natchez, they made up a force against the 
Natchez, and exterminated all the tribe, except those that they 
took prisoners, which were only about two hundred, including 
the " Great Sun '^ himself, who were carried into Hispaniola, 
and sold as slaves. 

The Abenakis of Maine were not only excited to war with 
the English, as French allies, but on their own account, as 
the English were stretching into their hunting grounds, on the 
pretext of driving off French Jesuits, who had missionary sta- 
tions among them. The government of Massachusetts offered 
a bounty of from fifteen to a hundred pounds for every Indian 
scalp ! In the spring of 1723, Captain Westbrooke marched 
upon the Indian settlement of Old Town, near the Penobscot, 
where a French Jesuit had a house, and near by a chapel, 
sixty feet long and thirty wide, well and handsomely fur- 
nished within and without, and defended by a regularly built 
fort, two hundred and ten feet long, and one hundred and fifty 



136 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

broad, well protected by stockades, fourteen feet liigb. There 
were twenty-three nice houses inside the fort. The invaders 
arrived at six o'clock in the evening, and the Indian warriors 
being absent, they set it on fire. In the morning all was a 
heap of ashes. 

The Protestant zeal of Massachusetts was excited by the 
idea of rescuing the Indians from the Catholic influence ; and 
that was to be done only by destroying all the missionary sta- 
tions. They tried at first a rival missionary station ; but that 
did not succeed. The methods of the Catholics were more at- 
tractive to the Indians than those of the Puritans. It was in- 
trinsically easier to train them to the Catholic service than to 
instruct them in an intellectual creed, or awaken by words 
purely spiritual ideas. The most sad of all these exciting sto- 
ries, is that of the martyrdom of Hale. He had once a 
mission among the Illinois; but in the last part of the seven- 
teenth century he went upon the Kennebec, and gathered at 
the village of Norridgewock an Indian flock. He painted the 
walls of his little church himself, with pictures of Christ and 
the saints ; and trained the young savages, arrayed in cassock 
and surplice, to chant hymns, walk in processions, and wave 
the incense. He also built one chapel in the wilderness to 
the Virgin, whose image adorned its walls ; and another to the 
Guardian Angel. He made himself the companion and in- 
structor of savages, winning their imagination by every loving 
and pious art, and commanding their reverence by his exam- 
ple of entire personal self-denial. The English demanded of 
his little flock the surrender of their beloved pastor, which 
was refused. They then went with a large force to seize him, 
but he escaped into the woods ; and the Indian warriors being" 
absent on a hunt, there was no battle. When the Indians re- 
turned and found what had passed, they determined to revenge 
the insult. " They sent deputies," says Bancroft, " to carry 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 

the hatchet and chant the war song among the Hnrons of 
Quebec, and in every village of the Abenakis. The war 
chiefs met at Norridgewock, and the work of destruction began 
hy the burning of Brunswick." But the feeble means of the 
Indians failed against the English force. Eale told them they 
could do nothing without the aid of the French, and advised 
them all to go to Canada. But he would not himself desert 
the church of Norridgewock. " I count not my life dear unto 
myself," he said, ♦* so I may finish with joy the ministry which 
I have received." At last he did fall into the hands of the 
English, who contrived to surprise Norridgewock, when only 
fifty warriors were at home. These were aroused from sleep 
by the firing of the English guns into their cabins. Rale, in 
order to enable them to secure the flight of their wives, chil- 
dren, and old men, presented himself to the assailants, in the 
well founded hope of drawing off all attention to himself. By 
means of this humane artifice, the warriors were able to trans- 
port their helpless ones over the river, v/hile the English set 
on fire the village, pillaged and destroyed the beautiful little 
church, and left Eale, mangled by many wounds, scalped, his 
skull broken in many places, his mouth and eyes filled with 
dirt. 

When the warriors returned, they found the English had 
gone, and their beloved priest's remains. They gathered 
them up and buried them reverently, in the spot immediately 
under the altar where he had ministered so faithfully. 

The destruction of the French missions produced an end to 
the French influence in Maine. The Abenakis made a treaty 
with the English in 1726 ; and trading stations succeeded to 
the Catholic chapels. The most important event in America, 
of the war of the Austrian succession, (caused by all Europe 
ranging itself for or against Maria Theresa's becoming Em- 
press of Germany on Charles the Sixth's death,) was the 



138 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

taking of Louisburg, a strong fortification on Cape Breton. 
This was done by an army raised from all the colonies, and 
commanded by Sir William Pepperell, a merchant of Boston. 
Louisburg was a fortress on which the French had expended 
five millions of dollars, it being situated admirably to guard 
their fishing interest and the Canadas. The English, on the 
other hand, were greatly annoyed by the presence near New- 
foundland of the French cruisers, and Governor Shirley of Massa- 
chusetts, (which was the colony most interested in the fisheries,) 
thought it was the best service that could be done the English in- 
terest, to capture Louisburg ; and he interested all the colonies 
in the scheme. Four ships of war belonging to the British West 
India fleet came to his aid, and between four and five thousand 
men sailed out of Boston harbor in great spirits for Louisburg, 
one fine morning in April, 1745. They found it, however, not 
a very easy matter to take Louisburg, and made five different 
attacks, suffering great hardships in the cold, wintry climate. 
But as the British West India cruisers cut off the supplies from 
France, and the garrison of Louisburg was feeble, it surren- 
dered. 

The peace of Aix-la-Ohapelle, which took place in 1748, 
closed this war before any thing more could be accomplished ; 
though great preparations were making for the defence and 
conquest of Canada by the two parties. By this peace, to the 
great vexation of the people of Massachusetts, Louisburg was 
returned to the French, who even obtained two more islands 
for fishing stations, on the south shore of Newfoundland, but 
they were consoled a little, by receiving as an indemnity for 
their expenses, a million of dollars in gold and silver. 

" OLD FRENCH WAR." * 

The last of the French wars is known traditionally as " the 
old French War ;" being recognized as but the fifth act of a 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 

military drama, whicli began in the early part of the 17tli 
century. The French, in the middle of the 18th century, 
began to think of securing the North and West of North Ame- 
rica to themselves, by a line of forts which should begin at 
Crown Point, on Lake Ohamplain, within the hunting grounds 
of the Six Nations, and extend to Fort Niagara ; thence to 
what is now Pittsburgh, but then was Fort Du Quesne, all 
along the Ohio to St Louis, and down the Mississippi, includ- 
ing both banks. This line would confine the English to the 
eastern side of the AUeghanies, and it was to remonstrate 
against the first movement to this end, that Georg^ Washing- 
ton was sent as Ambassador to Fort Venango, on the Alleghany 
river, in 1754. He was received politely, and the commander 
of the fort said that he would send his message to his Com- 
mander-in-chief. He then profiered hospitality to Washing- 
ton, to whom was betrayed by the genial French officers, as they 
sat over their wine, the whole important plan. Carrying this 
information to the Governor of Virginia, a military expedition 
was at once resolved upon, and Washington was made its 
commander, who, in a defeat of the French at Great Meadows, 
commenced the blood-shed of this war. In this same year In- 
dian depredations were made upon the frontiers of Maine, and 
Governor Shirley built Fort Halifax, on the Kennebec, while 
Washington was fortifying Will's Creek, in the Northwestern 
part of Virginia. 

In 1755, the first regular campaign of the war began, under 
General Braddock ; all the colonies having been ordered to 
send him levies. The plan of the campaign was agreed upon 
at Alexandria, Virginia, where all the colonial gfOvernors met 
in council. General Braddock was to go against Fort Du 
Quesne and expel the French from the Ohio. Crownpoint 
was to be attacked by Johnson, (who had married an Indian 
wife, and had great influence in the Six Nations) ; and Shirley 



140 CHRONOLOaiCAL HISTORY 

was to marcli against Fort Niagara. But there was anotlier 
expedition planned by Shirley, together with the Chief Jus- 
tice of Nova Scotia, which involved the expulsion of the 
French inhabitants of Acadia. This province had been con- 
quered by the English, in the previous French war ; but the 
inhabitants were still French, who had been excused by the 
terms of the treaty of peace from ever being called upon to 
bear arms against France. In their neutrality they had cul- 
tivated the arts of peace, and made their northern homesteads 
a kind of rural paradise. It was said, however, that some of 
their youn^ men were found in the garrison of Beau Sejour, 
when it surrendered ; and this was made the pretext of the 
expulsion. They were not ordered to leave, and go where 
they pleased ; because that would have swelled the French 
forces. It was determined therefore to kidnap them, carry 
them off, and distribute them among the English colonies. 
Under various pretences, the Acadians were made to 
assemble in their parish churches unarmed ; and there they 
were surrounded by soldiers, and carried off to the ships. In 
this operation members of families were separated from each 
other, who never met again. They were spread through the 
English colonies, where they became subjects of charity, and 
from which many were transported into the West India 
islands ; while some were sent to France at public expense. 
They had been allowed to take nothing of their property : 
their houses had been burnt, and all their lands, crops, and 
cattle, declared forfeit. The cruelty of this act has been im- 
mortalized in Longfellow's beautiful story of Evangeline, and 
its details are given in Bancroft's History, volume IV, Chap- 
ter VIII, and among Hawthorne's true Tales for children ; a 
book which may be read by very young students. Its gifted 
author could not do a greater service to his country, than to 
tell, in like manner, all the picturesq[ue of United States his- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 141 

tory. It would be virtually making the hallads of his nation. 

The other expeditions failed. General Braddock was de- 
feated by the enemy in ambush, to which he exposed himself 
imprudently, notwithstanding Washington's advice. He had 
had a terrible march through the woods. Shirley and John- 
son, also, were so disabled by their hardships, that they suc- 
ceeded only in building new forts, the former at Oswego, the 
latter at the head of the boat navigation on the Hudson. An 
immense effort, all over the country, was now made to raise 
money and troops ; and, at this time, the Quakers lost their 
political influence in Pennsylvania, as their objection to war 
made it necessary for them to resign their places in the 
government. Franklin was the first commander of the volun- 
teer militia of Pennsylvania. Some few efforts were now 
made at negotiation ;■ but they all failed ; and England de- 
clared war against France, on the other side of the Atlantic. 
The English lost Fort Oswego, and Fort William Henry, 
while the French, compelling the Six !N"ations to neutrality, 
by the help of their own Indian allies, retained all their forts 
from Louisburg to the Ohio, till 1758. But then the English 
army was 50,000 men, ten times as many as the French 
soldiery; and more than twice as much as all the inhabitants 
of Canada. More than half the English army were the 
colonists. Louisburg and several French forts were vi- 
gorously attacked, most of them with distinguished success ; 
and the British parliament, to encourage the colonies in their 
efforts, paid over in 1759, a million of dollars reimbursement. 

The greatest act of the war, all whose details may be read 
in Bancroft's IV volume, was the storming of Quebec by 
General Wolfe. This city is in two parts, the lower part built 
on the shores of the St. Lawrence ; the upper part, on the 
Plains of Abraham, which surmount a perpendicular range 
of lofty rocks, just back of the lower city. Wolfe began with 



142 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

taking possession of the river, wMcli his naval superiority to 
the French enabled him to do. He then attempted to drive 
the French General Montcalm, from his camp, where he lay 
with his army, strongly intrenched — not far from Quebec. As 
he did not succeed in his first attempt at this, he concluded 
to take the advice of his officers, and attempt to scale the 
rocks of Abraham, a measure so bold, that the French had 
not guarded against it. It was done in the night of Septem- 
ber 12th, 1759 ; and the next morning, Montcalm was amazed 
to see the whole British army drawn up on the Plains above 
the precipice. He rushed to the battle, which was terrible. 
Both Wolfe and Montcalm fell, and the English lost more men. 
than the French; but the English were victorious, and 
Canada was surrendered in 1760. In 1763, a treaty was signed, 
which guaranteed to the English all that is now called British 
America, as well as all the territory east of the Mississippi. 
The French settlers were allowed to remain however, and 
their social and religious rights were assured to them. 

PoNTiAc's Conspiracy. 

The yielding of the French to the English, awoke among 
the Indians a well-grounded fear for themselves. Hitherto 
they had been an important and acknowledged power, holding 
the balance between the two parties. But the French having 
yielded, the Indians saw that the English predominance 
threatened their own destruction. Of the two, the French 
were the more agreeable allies to the Indians. They more 
easily amalgamated with the red men ; and they had succeed- 
ed best in Christianizing them. The Jesuits had made more 
impression than the traders. Even the Iroquois, allies for 
more than a century, ceased to love the English, who demoral- 
ized them with rum, which the French always prohibited. An 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 

Abenaki proptet declared that tlie Great Maniton had appeared 
to him, and said : " I am the master of Life : it is I who make 
all men ; I wake for their safety. Therefore, I give you warn- 
ing, that if you suffer the Englishmen to dwell in your midst, 
their diseases and their poisons shall destroy you utterly, and 
you shall die." These words spread far and wide among the 
tribes ; and Pontiac heard them. 

Pontiac was the chief of the Ottawas, and one of the most 
gifted of his race; not only in eloquence, but in every quality 
of mind that makes the statesman. He conceived the plan of 
uniting the whole Indian race in one vast conspiracy, which, 
at a given time, should rise at once upon all the forts that 
had passed into the hands of the English, at the late surren- 
der ; and reconquer them for the French. He believed that 
with such an efficient aid, the French would gladly resume 
their rule, and the "great 'King would awake out of the sleep," 
during which he had inadvertently allowed the English to 
triumph. Undoubtedly his confidence was strengthened, if it 
had not been awakened at first, by French Canadians, who 
bore with ill grace the triumph of their hereditary enemy. 

A very brilliant history of the six years of Pontiac's war, 
has been written by Francis Parkman, Jun., of Boston, who 
spent several years among the Indians ; and from the mouths 
of their old men, whose languages he studied, and from old 
French Canadians, learnt the details of the Indian massacres. 
He has also interwoven into his narrative a multitude of Pon- 
tiac's orations, taken from reliable reports made at the time. 
The introductory oration and story that he told is very re- 
markable. 

Nothing short of a narrative so extended as Parkman's, can 
give a fair view of this noble chieftain's last struggle for his 
race. The first chapter contains a careful account of all the 
Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, with their ideas. An epi- 



144 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tome of the events of the " old French War," follows, and the 
operations of Pontiac are then given in detail ; and nothing has 
ever been written which gives so powerful a picture of what 
the Indians are in war : but perhaps it is hardly fair to judge 
of the Indians when their passions are excited into fury by 
such a death struggle. Mr. Parkman's account, therefore, 
should be balanced, by reading works like those of the Mora- 
vian Heckewelder, for instance, which describe these people 
as they are in times of peace. 

The forts which Pontiac proposed to surprise, were ten; 
beginning at Detroit, and including Sandusky, Fort St Jo- 
seph, Fort Pitt, (lately du Quesne,) Fort Miami, Fort Outa- 
non, Michilimackinack, Presqu' Isle, La Boeuf, and Venango. 
Into all but Detroit and Fort Pitt, the Indians succeeded to 
enter, on one device or another, and murdered all the garri- 
sons, Detroit was saved by an Indian girl, who was in love 
with Gladwin, its commander, and who warned him to put 
himself on his guard. But he did not seize Pontiac, as he 
might have done, being unaware of the extent of the plot. 
Detroit was afterwards openly besieged by the Indians, and 
many bloody battles fought in its vicinity, from one of which, 
a river, on whose banks it was fought, has taken the name of 
" the Bloody Run." Fort Pitt was defended at first, and at 
length relieved by an English reinforcement. But the sur- 
rounding woods, as well as the forts of all the West, were ren- 
dered frightful with massacres. 

The French officers who had lingered in the country after 
the surrender, vainly endeavored to mediate, by sending mes- 
sages and presents to the Indians. They had less influence 
than the French settlers, who encouraged the war wantonly. 

But when Pontiac found that he was indeed too late to save 
the French domination in the North, he determined to keep 
up the confederation against the English on his own account ; 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 

and donbtless lie fondly believed tliat the Frencli king wonld 
at last " awake out of his sleep." His genius for intrigue and 
war ; his unquenchable, fiery patriotism ; his indomitable will 
and energy, kept up the contest for six years, during all which 
time he kept himself out of the hands of the English, though 
a price had been set on his head in 1663. 

He was finally discouraged. When the English had recov- 
ered, as they did, all their forts ; and years passed over, and 
the French king (it was Louis XV.) gave no sign, Pontiac suc- 
cumbed, and made a treaty of peace. 

In the same year (1769), this Indian hero was massacred 
by one of the Illinois tribe, who was bribed to do the deed by 
a barrel of rum, promised him by an Englishman. The base 
deed was fearfully avenged ; for a wild Indian war burst forth 
against the Illinois, and all their tribes were exterminated 1 
As Parkman suggests, the obsequies of Pontiac were celebra- 
ted by a massacre, before which those made upon the tomb of 
Patroclus, as told in "the tale of Troy divine," dwindle into 
child's play. 

While Pontiac's war was still going on in the West, events 
were transpiring in the East of a purely politico-economical 
character, which were, however, breeding a war, that more 
widely and deeply interests the human race — the War of 
THE American Eevolution. 

War of the American Eevolution. 

We have now come to the event which may be said to be- 
gin the proper history of the United States. We have seen 
the organization of thirteen colonies, in every one of which the 
idea of a representative government, to be exercised for the 
good, not of the governing officers, but of the people, was fairly 
developed ; and in one, Massachusetts, more than half a cen- 
7 



146 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tury of struggle and protest had been made against the claim 
of the British Parliament to exercise legislative or executive 
power. In Massachusetts, therefore, first broke forth the voice 
of organized resistance, when, in pursuance of Lord Grenville's 
plan of raising a revenue to pay off the expenses of the old 
French war, Parliament passed the Stamp act. 

Considering the fact, that it was largely by their own blood 
and sacrifices Canada had been conquered for England, nothing 
could be more exasperating to the English colonies, than that 
they should be called on to pay the war expenses. But when, 
in addition to this preposterous demand, a trick of legislation 
was played off upon them, and they were to be compelled, 
despite of themselves, as it were, to raise this revenue, it is not 
wonderful that it should wake into self-consciousness the poli- 
tical self-respect of those who had entertained no idea but of loy- 
alty to the British crown. It was as Englishmen that the colonies 
first resisted the Stamp Act. Massachusetts was not more de- 
termined to resist than Virginia and the other colonies. It 
was the autocracy and stupid pertinacity of the British Parli- 
ament, which developed our fierce democracy. 

The trick of the Stamp Act was this : Parliament passed a 
law, that no business paper should be considered legal in the 
Colonies, but such as was stamped in a certain way; and then, 
upon this stamped paper was imposed a custom-house tax of 
3d. per pound. This paper they felt sure would be bought, 
because the people must have their business transactions sus- 
tained by the courts of law ; and these could legalize no re- 
ceipt, no will, no deed, nothing, in short, unless it was written 
out on stamped paper. 

But the short-sighted politicians found that they had to deal 
with a people who had been educated amidst too many diffi- 
culties, to be cheated of their self-respect, or their common 
sense. They immediately assembled all over the colonies, and 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 

entered into leagues, promising eacli other to deal fairly and 
pay their debts, without the help of the courts of law, though 
they should continue to transact their business upon unstamped 
paper; and they agreed in a general resolution not to buy the 
stamped paper at all. Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Legis- 
lature, made a great speech, in which he proved, that without 
representation there could be no taxation, according to admit- 
ted principles of the British constitution. In New York, de- 
puties from all the colonies met in the First Oontinental 
Congress, and declared their rights to be the same as those 
of the English in England. This Congress made memorials to 
both houses of Parliament, and to the King. The British gov- 
ernment saw that this was not the act of a few politicians, for 
the populace showed their identity of feeling, by tolling the 
bells in the towns, on the day the Stamp Act was to take ef- 
fect ; and doing other symbolical things. The mob of Boston 
tore down Governor Hutchinson's house, because he had at- 
tempted to carry out the act of Parliament ; and it compelled 
Mr. Andrew Oliver, whom he had appointed to sell the stamp- 
ed paper, to promise on oath, that he would offer none for sale ; 
and this was done under a tree in Boston, on which his e&gj 
had been hanged. When the deliberative wisdom of the few, 
and the passionate instinct of the many, press in one direction, 
the voice of the people may be fairly considered the voice of 
Grod. Mr. Pitt, in the British Parliament, also defended 
the colonies for resisting the Stamp Act, and denying the 
right of an assembly in which they were not represented, to 
impose taxes on them. Even in the House of Lords, the 
Americans found defenders. From all these different quarters 
came the one decision, that a government which imposes an 
unjust law, should be resisted by self-respecting men.* 

* Very young students can read about the public demonstrations con- 
cerning the stamp act in Hawthorne's " True Tales j" and maturer stu- 



148 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

The Stamp Act was repealed. But men in office will some- 
times endeavor to exert their anthority and influence against 
the letter of the constitution of their country, much more 
against the spirit of eternal law, which gives the highest inter- 
pretation to that letter. Lord Grenville, two years after his 
first disastrous attempt, induced Charles Towngend to intro- 
duce a bill into parliament for taxing tea, and some other arti- 
cles imported by the Colonies, on the pretext that the revenue 
thence derived should be appropriated to defray the expenses 
of the colonial government ! This was very cunning; but the 
colonies were wide awake, and asked, *' why not leave it to the 
American assemblies to raise this just revenue for paying the 
expenses of their own governments ?" The resistance to par- 
liamentary encroachment was therefore renewed, especially at 
Boston ; on which six ships of war were ordered to its harbor, 
and the navy ofiicers were made custom-house officers ; a de ■ 
tachment of the land army being also ordered to Boston, to 
back the navy officers in collecting the duties. 

The presence of this army was very irritating, and not long 
after, occurred what is called the Boston Massan-e. The cir- 
cumstances were these : Some young Boston citizens insulted 
a British soldier, who was standing on guard before the cus- 
tom-house in King Street, and a number of persons gathered 
round to see the fun. The British captain, who was in his bar- 
racks, rushed out with his company, on purpose to prevent a 
disturbance, as he afterwards declared. The mob dared the 
company to fire ; and they thought they heard the Captain's 
order, as tliey said, (and it could not be disproved). Eight 
persons were killed or wounded, and the crowd dispersed. Of 
course, the soldiers were brought to trial, on charge of mur- 
dering unarmed men; and what is very remarkable, two of the 

dents can study out all the political relations of the subject, in Bancroft's 
History, where a whole volume is devoted to it. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 14:9 

popular leaders, James Otis and Josiah Quincy, appeared in 
their defence, and gained their cause, as only guilty of justi- 
fiable manslaughter, in self-defence. This act of magnanimity 
and justice, showed that the resistance to England, though op- 
posing statute laws, was made in the spirit of the eternal law, 
which, as Hooker says, descends to men from God's bosom, 
and is the standard and sanction of all human legislation. On 
hearing of this affair, Parliament took off all the taxes, except 
the one on tea, which they stupidly reserved, to assert the 
very claim which made the taxes odious. But the colonists 
were sleeplessly vigilant, and non-irdportation leagues were 
immediately formed ; and when Parliament, by bounties in- 
duced the East India company to send cargoes of tea to Amer- 
ica, most of the Colonies sent the ships back, without permit- 
ting them to unload. Massachusetts could not do so, because 
of the British fortifications of Boston Harbor, which protected 
the ships in entering ; but a party of patriotic gentlemen, dis- 
guised as Indians, went on board the tea-ships in the night, 
as they lay at anchor, and pitched all their cargoes into the 
sea ! 

Upon this, the British Parliament, at the instigation of the 
prime minister. Lord North, passed the famous " Port Bill," 
which forbade all commercial intercourse with Boston ; ordered 
four thousand British troops to the town; and, as first Gover- 
nor Bernard and then Governor Hutchinson had resigned 
their offices and returned to England, General Gage was made 
governor of Massachusetts, who put Boston under martial law. 
The next day after the Port Bill went into operation, June 1, 
1774, news came that the Parliament had subverted the char- 
ter of the province, and transferred the administration of jus- 
tice from the American to the English courts. But the whole 
country came to the aid of oppressed Boston. Salem and 
Marblehead offered their wharves, and even their labor, to 



150 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tlie Boston mercliants. In Virginia, the Assembly, in despite 
of the Governor, ordered a fast to be held ; and all the colonies 
exjDressed their sympathy and proffered their aid. The most 
important thing that ensued was the convention of the Conti- 
nental Congress at Philadelphia, (on Sept. 15th, 1774.) ^Each 
colony had one vote in this assembly, and Peyton Randolph, 
of Virginia, was its president. It made addresses of remon- 
strance to the king, to the people of England, and to General 
Gage, which were all calm statements of the colonial rights 
nnder the British constitution. It recommended to the Ame- 
rican people a passive resistance, by associating themselves 
in agreements not to import anything from Great Britain till 
the obnoxious laws were repealed, and the rights of the colo- 
nists acknowledged. 

The next British Parliament, instead of yielding, or even 
replying to these respectful remonstrances, forbade the New 
England colonies from fishing on the Newfoundland banks, 
or trading with any countries but Great Britain and the Brit- 
ish colonies in the "West Indies. 

This last outrage consummated the E-evolution. In Massa- 
chusetts the people, in consequence of the occupation of Bos- 
ton by British troops, had organized a secret militia, called 
"minute men." The Committee of Safety, appointed by the 
Provincial Congress, which had been meeting for more than 
a year, in private houses, kept their eye on all magazines of 
ammunition, determined that the British should not get pos- 
session of them. There was an attempt made to seize some 
stores at Danvers ; but the people of Salem met the British 
troops at the north bridge, and tore it up, which prevented their 
crossing it. There were other stores at Concord; and on the 
eve of the 19th of April, General Gage ordered a company 
to leave Boston at midnight, without sound of drum, to go and 
secure them. But by means of a preconcerted signal, the 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 151 

"minute men" were called out. The tradition is, tliat a lamp 
was lighted in the belfry of the " Old North" Church, and im- 
mediately all along the northern road lamps were lighted in 
all the steeples. The British detachment reached Lexington 
at day -light, and found a small party out under arms, on which 
the captain cried out, "Disperse, you rebels." They did not 
obey him, of course, and he fired, "killed eight of them, and 
wounded others." They then marched on to Concord, and 
met "the embattled farmers" at abridge, " who fired the shot 
heard round the world," and the first two British soldiers fell. 
They were buried on the spot. The road has become a field, 
whose owner granted it for an ornamented common, on con- 
dition that the town should build a monument to consecrate 
the spot. A monument also has been built in Lexington, 
on the spot where Oapt. Pitcairn challenged " the reb- 
els." 

The numbers of the British being much superior to their 
opponents, all the stores at Concord were destroyed, that had 
not been removed, and the British, after a short fight, started 
on their return, meeting at Lexington another company, com- 
manded by Captain Percy, who had been sent to reinforce 
them. 

The whole journey back to Boston, was frightful for the 
British. It was a running battle, and with no visible foe. 
The minute men who were remarkable marksmen, fired from 
behind fences, from houses, and every kind of shelter, and the 
road from Concord to Charlestown, was strewed with British 
corpses the whole way. There is, in Cooper's novel of Lionel 
Lincoln, a most graphic description of this battle, as well as 
that of Bunker Hill, which took place two months after. It 
has always been called the battle of Lexington, though there 
is a dispute with the people of Concord, who claim that it 



152 ' CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

should take the name of their town. Its date is April 19th, 
1775* 

The news that war had commenced, spread like wildfire 
through the colonies, whose several legislative assemblies con- 
vened at once, and espoused the cause of Massachusetts, 
which they felt to be their own ; levying troops, and sending 
them to the vicinity of Boston, where, within six weeks, an 
army of 20,000 men were assembled, which laid siege to the 
British troops within the town. They made no assault, how- 
ever, on account of their friends, who still dwelt there ; Gen- 
eral Gage having interrupted their removal, in the fear, if 
only the British and the tories were left, the country people 
would bring in no provisions. 

Warlike demonstrations were not confined to Boston. Some 
Connecticut men and Green Mountain boys formed a company 
of volunteers, and under the command of Ethan Allen and 
others, went up on Lake Cham.plain, and took possession on 
May 10th, of the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
Patrick Henry, of Virginia, started to recapture a quantity of 
powder that Governor Dunmore had ordered on board an 
armed schooner in James river; and there would have been 
a battle there, had not Lord Dunmore sent to him the value 
in money. The very day that Crown Point and Ticonderoga 
were taken, the Continental Congress at Philadelphia chose 
for President, Mr. Hancock, who, with Samuel Adams, had 
been outlawed by General Gage. The next act, of the 

^^ There are many conflicting accounts of the battle of Lexington. 
Washington Irving in his Life of Washington, differs essentially from the 
statements made in a letter to the New Hampshire legislature, written by 
Brig. Gen. Palmer, in behalf of the Committee of Safety of the Provincial 
Congress, who says : — Pitcairn fired '' without provocation, the men being 
only out exercising.'' — Section 1st, Coll. of New Hampshire, Vol. II. 



OF THE UNITED STATES, 153 

Congress, after this, was to antliorize bank notes, represent- 
ing 3,000,000 of dollars, wliicli they pledged themselves, in 
the name of the country, to redeem, after the war was over ; 
and on the 19th of June, they elected George Washington, 
Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. 

But two days before this was done, another battle had 

taken place near Boston, — the battle of Bunker Hill. Of 

* 
this the Congress and George Washinton yet knew nothing, 

it not yet being the day of railroad and telegraph expresses. 

It seems that Lord Howe had arrived, to supersede General 
Gage ; for in the letter dated June 20th, which was " favored 
by General Washington," to Brigadier General Palmer, John 
Adams says. " Such a wretch as Howe, with a statue in 
honor of his family in Westminster Abbey, erected by the 
Massachusetts, to come over with the design to cut the throats 
of the Massachusetts people is too much ! I most sincerely, 
and coolly, and devoutly wish, that a lucky ball or bayonet 
may make a signal example of him, for a warning to such un- 
principled — unsentimental miscreants for the future." 

Mr. Adams was hardly able to be ' cool,' however ' sincere.' 
He begins the above letter with the words, " Dear Sir ; we 
send you for your comfort the Generals Washington and Lee, 
Avith Commissions for Ward and Putnam." * * * " I think 
Ave shall have an ample variety of able, experienced offi- 
cers in our army ; such as may form soldiers and officers 
enough to keep up a succession for the defence of America 
for ages. Our camp will be an illustrious school for military 
virtue, and will be resorted to and frequented by gentlemen 
in great numbers from the other colonies as such. Great 
things are in the womb of Providence, great prosperity or ad- 
versity, perhaps both, the latter first perhaps." 

The battle of Bunker Hill was occasioned by a rumor, 
that General Gage purposed to send out a company to attack 



154 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tlie people. Generals Putnam, Prescott, and others, therefore, 
determined to erect a fortification of earth on Bunker Hill, in 
order to prevent egress on that side. The fort was erected on 
Breed's hill still nearer Boston, in a single dark night. On the 
morning of the 17th of June, the British army was surprised 
to see this redoubt ; and made preparations to go and destroy 
it, by sending several companies in boats across Charles E-iver, 
from Copp's Hill, the northern point of Boston, to the south- 
ern point of Charlestown. They went under cover of the 
guns of two vessels of war, and disembarking without dis- 
turbance, marched up the hill, in great confidence that their 
warlike array would entirely damp the courage of the 
Americans, who were hidden behind the redoubt, which had 
only once showed a sign of life, when General Prescott ap- 
peared on top, with a spy glass, for a few moments. But as 
soon as the British battalion had come within rifle shot of the 
Americans, a murderous fire flashed all along the top of the 
redoubt, which, killing every man in the first rank, made the 
whole company waver backwards. They were rallied how- 
ever by the officers, and going up again within pistol shot, 
the like took place ; and so it went on until their ammunition 
being exhausted, the Americans were themselves obliged to 
retreat, after a little skirmish on the hill, during which General 
Warren was killed. They then rushed over Charlestown 
bridge, not in flight, but intentionally, notwithstanding the fir- 
ing from the ships on the river, and the fmoke of Charles- 
town, which the British had set on fire, eovered their retreat. 
Irving, in his life of Washington, gives a very minute account 
of the battle of Bunker Hill, and says, when news of it was 
brought to Washington, who was on his way, he asked how 
the militia had acted, and having been told, replied, " Thank 
God ! then the liberties of the country are safe I " 

Meanwhile, the successes on Lake Ohamplain were followed 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 

up with an invasion of Canada, by Benedict Arnold, and tlie 
Irish General Montgomery. Montreal was taken, but soon 
lost again ; and, in endeavoring to take Quebec, the lamented 
Montgomery lost his life. It was then seen, that it was best 
not to involve Canada in the war; the people with their 
French antecedents being not advanced enough in political 
ideas, to co-operate with the purely English colonies. 

But military operations were not confined to the north in 
1775. The militia of Norfolk, Virginia, successfully defended 
that city against the Governor, Lord Dunmore, who armed 
the slaves in the party of the royalists. The only military 
success of the British during the year, was the burning of 
Falmouth, now called Portland. The battle of Bunker Hill, 
like that of Thermopyl?G in old Greece, was a victory in result, 
though the British were the last on the field. It showed 
that the Americans were in earnest, and could fight. 

All the details of the battles of the B/evolution, are not to 
be given in this narrative ; which aims to give a hirds eye 
view of the war. But such students as have access to Botta's 
war of the American Hevolution, especially Sears' Pictorial 
History or Lossings Pictorial Field book of the E/evolution, 
can learn every particular. At first, it is better to get a gen- 
eral view of the whole ; afterwards the details can be studied. 
Irving's Life of Washington gives excellent accounts of indi- 
vidual officers, and characteristic anecdotes. George Wash- 
ington, as soon as he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, 
proceeded to Boston, and was received by the army in Cam- 
bridge, under the great tree which still stands upon the Com- 
mon. He formed a camp west of the waters which make 
Boston a peninsula ; but he made no assault. This was a 
cause of much wonder, and even discontent, in the army. 
The real reason of his inactivity, was the want of the munitions 
of war ; a circumstance which he contrived to conceal, even 



156 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

from his own army, as the betrayal of it to the British, would 
have been fatal. A letter of his to Brigadier General Palmer 
exists, in which this cause for his inactivity is stated. It ap- 
pears from the letter,* that General Palmer had indicated a 
certain military movement, which he thought might be advan- 
tageously made. General Washington replied : 

Cambridge, Aug. 22d, 1776. 
In answer to your favor of yesterday, I must inform you 
that I have often been told of the advantages of Point Alder- 
ton, with respect to its command of the shipping going in and 
out of Boston harbor ; and that it has, before now, been the 
object of my particular inquiries ; that I find accounts differ 
exceedingly in regard to the distance of the ship channel, and 
that there is a passage on the other side of the light-house 
island for all vessels except ships of the first rate. My know- 
ledge of this matter would not have rested upon inquiries only, 
if I had found myself at any one time, since I came to this 
place, in a condition to have taken such a post. But it be- 
comes my duty to consider, not only what place is advantage- 
ous, but what number of men are necessary to defend it, how 
they can be supported in case of an attack, how they may re- 
treat if they cannot be supported, and what stock of ammuni- 
tion we are provided with for the purpose of self-defence, or 
annoyance of the enemy. In respect to the first, I conceive 
that our defence must be proportioned to the attack of Gen. 
Gage's whole force (leaving him just enough to man his lines 
on Charlestown Neck and Hoxbury) ; and with regard to the 
second and most important object, we have only one hundred 
and eighty-four barrels of poiuder in all, ivhich is not suficient 

* The original of this letter, as well as the one quoted page 153 from 
John Adams, is preserved among the papers of the author's family, of 
which General Palmer was the ancestor. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 157 

to give thirty cartridges a man, and scarce enough to serve 
the artillery, in any brisk action, a single day. 

Would it be prudent, then, in me, under these circumstances, 
to take a post thirty miles distant from this place, when we 
already have a line of circumvallation at least ten miles in 
extent, any part of which may be attacked (if the enemy w^ll 
"keep their own counsel), without our having one hour's pre- 
vious notice of it ? Or is it prudent to attempt a measure 
which necessarily would bring on a consumption of all the 
ammunition we have; thereby leaving the army at the mercy 
of the enemy, or to disperse, and leave the country to be rav- 
aged and laid waste at discretion ? To you, sir, who are a 
well-wisher of the cause, and can reason upon the eiffect of 
such a conduct, I may open myself with freedom, because no 
improper discoveries will be made of our situation ; but I can- 
not expose my weakness to the enemy (for I believe they are 
pretty well informed of every thing that passes), by telling this 
and that man, who are daily pointing out this, that, and t'other 
place, of all the motives that govern my actions, notwithstand- 
ing I know what will be the consequences of not doing it ; 
namely, that I shall be accused of inattention to the public 
service, and, perhaps, with want of spirit to prosecute it. But 
this shall have no effect upon my mind, and I will steadily (as 
far as my judgment will assist me) pursue such measures as I 
think most conducive to the ' interest of the cause, and rest 
satisfied under any obloquy that shall be thrown upon me, 
conscious of having discharged my duty to the best of my 
abilities. 

I am much obliged to you, however, as I shall be to every 
gentleman, for pointing out any measure which is thought 
conducive to the public good ; and shall cheerfully follow any 
advice which is not inconsistent with, but correspondent to the 
general plan in view, and practicable, under such particular 



158 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

circumstances as govern in cases of tlie like kind. In respect 
to Port Alderton, I was, no longer ago than Monday last, talk- 
ing to Gen. C. Thomas on this head, and proposing to send 
Col. Putnam down to take the distances, &c., but considered 
it could answer no end but to alarm and make the enemy 
more vigilant. Unless we were in a condition to possess the 
post to effect, I thought it as well to postpone the matter 
awhile. I am, dear sir, your very humble servant, 

G. Washington. 
Hon. Joseph Palmer, "Watertown. 

In another letter to the same gentleman, dated a fortnight 
earlier, he says, in reference to another movement : "I am 
sure nothing could ever be executed here by surprise, as I am 
well convinced nothing is transacted in our camp or lines, but 
what is known in Boston, in less than twenty-four hours. In- 
deed, circumstanced as we are, it is scarce possible to be other- 
wise," &c. 

The only hope of the general-in-chief was, to drive the 
British army out of Boston, by presenting a firm attitude. It 
did not succeed during the year, in the course of which the 
British rejected the last efforts the Americans made for a 
peaceful solution of the question, and hired 17,000 German 
mercenaries to be used against the colonies. 

But in the spring, having heard that Lord Howe, who had 
succeeded Gen. Gage, intended to make a sortie into the coun- 
try, on the opposite side from Bunker Hill, he fortified Dor- 
chester Heights. This fortification, like that of Bunker Hill, 
was also raised in a single night, and its guns seemed to 
threaten the British ships in the harbor of Boston. But the 
British seemed to have a salutary remembrance of Bunker 
Hill ; and after an abortive attempt to embark, and attack the 
fort from the harbor, Lord Howe, with all his troops, together 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 159 

with the royalists of Boston,* went on board tlie ships, and 
sailed for Halifax ; while Washington marched into the town 
over the Neck. It was the 17th of March, 1776. Washington 
did not know where Lord Howe had gone with his troops, 
and fearing it might be to New York, he put himself, as soon 
as possible, in marching order for that city, having sent Gen. 
Lee on before, with the Connecticut militia. But he did not 
leave Boston without sufficient fortifications to prevent a re- 
occupation. 

Sir Henry Clinton arrived off Sandy Hook, early in May, 
with a fleet from England, and, as it is supposed, on account 
of learning that New York was on its guard, he proceeded 
South, where he expected less preparation, together with Sir 
Peter Parker, whose fleet (with Lord Cornwallis and his army 
on board) he met on his way. But Gren. Lee was there before 
him. Instead of besieging Charleston, S. C, fortunately for 
the Americans, Clinton attacked the fort on Sullivan's Island, 
which was most bravely defended by Cen. Moultrie, whose 
name was afterward given to the fort, which being built of 
the Palmetto tree, received into its corklike substance — and 
deadened — the enemy's fire. The battle lasted seven or eight 
hours, during which the fort was bombarded, and the four 
hundred men in the garrison fought constantly. Nevertheless, 
only ten men were killed and twenty-two wounded ; while the 
enemy lost, in killed and wounded, over two hundred, in- 
cluding the royal Governor of the province, Lord Campbell. 
In a few days, the British fleet sailed away to New York, 
where all their forces had been commanded to concentrate 
themselves, and where Lord Howe had arrived from Halifax, 
and was joined, July 12th, by his brother. Admiral Howe, 
with still more forces from England. 

*Read Hawthorne's 'Tales of the Province House.' 



160 CHKOJSrOLOGICAL HISTORY 

But, eiglit days before this, the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence had been made, which Richard Henry Lee proposed, 
and Thomas Jefferson drafted. All the members of Congress 
signed it, on the 4th of July, which is therefore celebrated as 
the birth-day of our nationality. 

John Adams prophetically said of it, at the time : " I am 
apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding genera- 
tions, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be com- 
memorated as a day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devo- 
tion to Almighty Grod. It ought to be solemnized with pomp 
and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, 
and illuminations, from one end of the continent to another 
from this time forth for evermore." 

The British were determined to take possession of New York ; 
but first Lord Howe sent a letter offering terms of accommoda- 
tion, it is said, and " pardons to such as deserved mercy." This 
letter was directed to George Washington, Esq. But the Com- 
mander-in-chief declined to receive it, because it did not recog- 
nize the title bestowed upon him by his country ; nor would 
he receive another letter addressed to " G-eorge Washington, &c., 
&c." The British Army then landed on Staten Island, between 
the American Army in New York and a detachment of it above 
Brooklyn ; and here the battle of Brooklyn took place, which 
was the most hard fought and bloody contest of the whole war. 
It turned against the Americans, who could bring less than 
17,000 troops against 35,000 of the best British soldiers, so 
that Washington drew off his forces by a masterly retreat, and 
the British took possession of New York. Immediately after- 
wards, a battle at White Plains was lost, also the forts Wash- 
ington and Lee on the Hudson, and Washington retreated 
across New Jersey and beyond the Delaware. He even spoke 
of the possibility of going behind the Alleghanies ; for although 
the Americans were never so discouraged during the whole 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 161 

war, and the army was diminislied one half and more, "Wash- 
ington himself did not falter. Lord Cornwallis followed him 
on his retreat, taking all the towns of New Jersey on the way; 
and at last fortified himself on the east side of the Delaware, 
waiting for it to freeze, that he might go across it to Philadel- 
phia. But "Washington suddenly determined to recross the 
river with less than 3,000 men, and attack Cornwallis. There 
is in the rotunda of the Capital at "Washington, a picture hy 
Leutze of this crossing, of which engravings are now very com- 
mon, and which is very expressive and interesting. In the 
battle of Trenton the British were defeated, and the Ameri- 
cans took a thousand prisoners ; and by means of this brilliant 
action, the year 1776 ended gloriously for the Americans after 
all. Washington Irving gives all the details and also tells the 
multitudinous trials of "Washington at this dark season. But the 
year 1777 began with good omens ; for, on the first of January 
Washington gained the battle of Princeton. On this occasion, 
Lord Howe was coming to the aid of Lord Cornwallis, who had 
pursued Washington through New Jersey, when Washington 
intercepted him, or rather retreated on one side and came 
round in his rear. He then took possession of Morristown, 
Newark, Woodbridge and Elizabethtown ; and the British, 
who had so lately had possession of New Jersey, were re- 
stricted to New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. The people of 
New Jersey very much hated, and in several instances rose 
against the German troops of the British army, who had acted 
very harshly during their short ascendency. Washington then 
retreated to Morristown to winter, and had his whole army 
innoculated for the small pox, which was a very important 
precaution, as that malignant disease had already broken out. 
In the last month of 1776, the fleet of Sir Peter Parker went 
North and blockaded the American fleet in Narragansett Bay, 
so that it was unable to do any thing ; and in the Spring of 



162 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1777, Greneral Tryon who had been the Eoyal Governor of 
New York, ravaged the southern shore of Connecticut, but did 
not escape a severe punishment for it from the Americans un- 
der General "Wooster, who, however, lost his life in the cause. 
Colonel Meigs, an American officer, also performed a brilliant 
exploit, seizing a a depot of British stores at Sag Harbor, on 
the eastern end of Long Island. 

The British had a grand plan, on their first taking possession 
of New York, of cutting off New England from the rest of the 
country, by making an attack upon the Americans on the Hud- 
son, from both the Canada side and New York city at the same 
time. For this purpose General Burgoyne was sent from 
England, who arrived in Quebec in May, and his part was to 
go down through Lake Champlain, and along the Hudson to 
Albany, while his friend. Colonel St. Leger, was to go round 
by another route to the same place, and both were to meet 
General Clinton, who was to come up the Hudson from New 
York. Generals Schuyler and Arnold undertook to prevent 
the consummation of this scheme, and so far succeeded, that 
St. Leger was compelled to return to Montreal ; but Bur- 
goyne got possession of Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and White- 
hall, then named Skeneborough, while the American Army, 
under Schuyler, retired to Saratoga. There Schuyler gave 
up his command to General Gates. Burgoyne, meantime, 
worked his way to Fort Edward, which Schuyler had left ; 
and being in want of provisions, and hearing that some were 
stored at Bennington, he sent the German General Baum to 
take them. But Baum was met by General Stark, who 
killed him and defeated his party, which, being reinforced with 
500 men, was defeated again, immediately afterwards, by 
Colonel Warner and the Green Mountain Boys. These were 
the battles of Bennington. 

The British had Indians in their service, and just at this 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 

time the murder of a Miss M'Crea, of Fort Edward, by some 
Indians, "who were employed by a British officer, Oapt. Jone€, 
to aid her in eloping to him from her father's house, produced 
a great excitement, together with a general rising against the 
British by the people, who joined General Grates' army, that 
was thus made 5000. He therefore advanced as far as Still- 
water, to meet Burgoyne, who had encamped at Saratoga ; a 
bloody battle was fought at Stillwater, on the 19th, in which 
the Americans had the advantage ; and, on the 7th of Octo- 
ber, the Americans attacked the British at Saratoga, who in 
fifty minutes, gave way, losing their General Eraser. Kos- 
ciusko, the Pole, assisted the Americans in this battle. Ten 
days after, Burgoyne, seeing his own army diminishing, while 
that of the Americans was doubling and quadrupling, despaired 
of success, and surrendered 5762 men, 35 brass field pieces, and 
5000 muskets ; also promising for himself and army, to serve 
no more against the Americans, provided they should all be 
permitted to return to England free. On hearing of this sur- 
render of Burgoyne's, the British left Ticonderoga and re- 
turned to Canada ; and Clinton, who had sailed up the Hud- 
son to meet him, returned to New York. So this great 
scheme of the British failed. 

Lord Howe, in the mean time, was on an expedition to get 
possession of Philadelphia. He had sailed ftom New York, 
on the 23d of July ; and in five weeks he entered the Chesa- 
peake, and disembarked 1800 troops at the head of the bay ; 
while "Washington crossed the Delaware to oppose him, and 
encamped on the Brandywine. There the British attacked 
him, and Washington lost the battle of Brandywine, which he 
attributed to being misled by false intelligence. Lafayette 
was wounded in this battle ; and General Pulaski, a Pole, dis- 
tinguished himself. The British therefore succeeded in tak- 
ing possession of Philadelphia and Germantown, Sept. 26, '77; 



164 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

but tlie Congress had already left Philadelpliia and adjourned 
to Lancaster. Washington attacked the British at Skippack 
creek, but failed of doing them much harm, a heavy fog hav- 
ing suddenly set in ; and the Americans were also obliged, by 
Lord Howe, to give up Fort Mercer, which enabled the Bri- 
tish fleet to go up the Delaware, and capture and burn the 
colonial shipping. Washington then retired to Valley Forge ; 
and things looked very dark for the Americans, who were ex- 
tremely poor ; for their cause now looked so doubtful, that the 
paper money the Congress had issued, would not buy any- 
thing, even of their own people. At this time, too, there was 
a conspiracy against Washington, chiefly produced by the 
Irish General, Conway, who wished to get General Gates into 
the chief command. Washington took no notice of this, and 
Colonel Timothy Pickering, who was his private secretary, 
used to tell a beautiful story connected with this affair, which 
displays Washington's entirely disinterested patriotism. Wash- 
ington and his secretary were living in a house upon the great 
northern road from Philadelphia ; and they used to sit at 
work in the same room, which had windows commanding a 
view of the road for many miles. One day they saw in the 
far distance a courier with mail bags. They knew he must 
bring intelligence from the northern army, commanded by 
General Gates. Washington, having caught sight of him, 
gtood at the window a long while, watching his approach in 
silence. When he came opposite the house, he signified, with 
much excitement, that Mr. Pickering should go out and bring 
in the saddle bags. He tore them open as soon as brought, 
and found the news of Burgoyne's surrender to Gates. Im- 
mediately he fell on his knees, clasped his hands, and looked 
up to heaven, in a transport of thanksgiving. Not a shadow 
of jealousy of General Gates marred the moment of piety 
and joy. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 165 

Mr. Pickering silently gazed, bnt with unforgetting sensi- 
bility, on, this exhibition of pure and unselfish character. He 
knew that "Washington was aware of the plan to give Gates 
the chief command, and, that this splendid success would give 
his rival an advantage. But the father of his country thought 
not of himself. 

Washington was a person of little demonstrativeness of 
manner, and it is interesting to know, that on the few occa- 
sions when his feelings broke through all restraint, they were 
always of the noblest and most disinterested strain. In the 
year 1777, as has been said. Congress was greatly distressed 
for money. Their paper money always lost its value, when 
misfortunes suggested that the American cause would fail. In 
the early part of the year they had sent Benjamin Frank- 
lin, Silas Deane and Henry Laurens, to France, to try and 
borrow money, as well as to induce the French king to 
acknowledge the American Independei^e ; and, on his first 
arrival, Franklin had interested the people of Paris so much, 
that Lafayette, who had already heard with enthusiasm of 
the battle of Bunker Hill, volunteered to come out at 
his own expense, together with several other French gen- 
tlemen. 

In 1778, the good effect of this embassy to France was 
seen : an alliance was made against England, and a Minister 
appointed to America — ^M. Gerard, while Franklin remained, 
as American Minister Plenipotentiary in Europe, and suc- 
ceeded in borrowing some millions of money of France and 
Holland. 

The news of the surrender of Burgoyne, and the exploits 
of the American privateers, who took two hundred British 
vessels this year, suggested to the English the desirableness 
of making peace, and they sent over three secret agents — not 
to treat, but to intrigue. One of them, Mr. Johnstone, offered 



166 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

General Keed ^^10,000 bribe, to which he replied, " I am not 
worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the King of England is 
not rich enough to buy me." 

On the 18th of June (1778), the British army evacuated 
Philadelphia, being starved out by the surrounding people. 
Immediately, Washington quitted Valley Forge, and going to 
meet it, killed seven hundred British, with a small loss. 

In the same month, a French fleet arrived, which Washing- 
ton directed against the British who had possession of New- 
port. General Sullivan, with 10,000 troops, was ordered to 
co-operate with the fleet there ; but Count D'Estaing went 
off in pursuit of Lord Howe, who lured him off intentionally, 
and the British attacked Gen. Sullivan on Quaker Hill, north 
of Newport. Lafayette said that this was the best fought bat- 
tle of the revolution, but Sullivan lost it. 

The famous massacre of Wyoming, by the Indians, led on 
by Brandt, happened this year. Campbell has immortalized 
this bloody affair, in his poem of " Gertrude of Wyoming." 

The British, in the last of 1778, had determined to see 
what they could do in the far south. Sir Henry Clinton, who 
had superseded Lord Howe at Philadelphia, had, before the 
army left there, sent Colonel Campbell to attack Savannah, 
which, being unprepared, was taken. 

Early in 1779, the whole of Georgia was overrun by the 
British, whom the tories of the State joined in large numbers. 
Once these tories were defeated by Colonel Pickens, near Au- 
gusta ; but the British were successful in several encounters. 
Their general, Prevost, defeated General Ashe at Briar Creek, 
and, going into South Carolina, he also defeated General 
Moultrie, at Black Swamp and Purysburg, and laid seige to 
General Lincoln, in Charleston; but Governor E-utledge 
and General Lincoln succeeded in defending the city for that 
time. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 167 

This same montti of May, 1779, Sir Henry Clinton sent 
Gen. Matthews, witli two thousand men, to Virginia, who 
burned Norfolk and some other towns, and then return- 
ed to New York. Clinton also took Stony and Verplank 
Points, on the Hudson, but lost Stony Point immediately 
afterward, as it was re-captured by General Wayne. It was, 
however, dismantled by the Americans, that neither party 
might have it to defend. The south of Connecticut was also 
ravaged by General Tryon, for the second time, who burnt 
Fairfield, Norwalk, and Greenwich. The Americans also sus- 
tained the loss of a great battle at Savannah, where the 
French count, D'Estaing, and the American general, Lincoln, 
had combined to bombard the British. The French lost 700, 
the Americans 400 men, in this action, and Count Pulaski fell. 
Thus the war seemed to go against the Americans in 1779 ; 
but General Sullivan had gone upon the Susquehanna, in 
August, and punished the tories and Indians, who had made 
the massacre of Wyoming the year before. (He had 3,000 
troops, and General James Clinton joined him with 1,600 
more.) On the coast of Scotland, also, Paul Jones attacked a 
'fleet of British merchant ships, under convoy of Captain Pear- 
son, and gained a gneat victory. 

In 1780, General Lincoln, at Charleston, S. C, was disas- 
trously besieged by Sir Henry Clinton ; on the 14th of April, 
a company of Americans was defeated at Monk's Corner ; on 
the 7th of April, Fort Moultrie was given up ; and on the 
12th of May, General Lincoln was forced to surrender his 
army, with four hundred_ cannon and four frigates. The Brit- 
ish then proceeded to conquer South Carolina, which was done 
mainly by Colonel Tarleton, who was frightfully ferocious, 
especially at a defeat of the Americans at Waxhaw, where 
he killed even those who laid down their arms. 

Having conquered South Carolina, where a great many 



168 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

planters had joined the British side, Sir Henry Clinton left 
the Southern army to Lord Oornwallis, and returned to 
New York. But the British attempt to force all the Amer- 
icans of Georgia and the Oarolinas to take up arms against 
their countrymen, was an unwise exaction, which rekindled 
the spirit of independence there. The Southern women are 
said to have been eminently patriotic at this time. 

In July 10th, 1780, 6,000 French soldiers arrived in 
America, under the command of Count Bochambeau. This 
timely assistance had been procured by Lafayette, who had 
gone to France for the purpose : and now, by his influence, 
these French auxiliaries ranged themselves peaceably under 
the command of G-eneral Washington. The patriots of the 
Carolinas were led by Colonels Sumpter and Marion ; Baron 
de Kalb went from Maryland to assist them, and G-eneral 
Gates took the command of the whole. Sumpter destroyed a 
British regiment that was defending Hanging E-ock ; but the 
great battle was at Camden, South Carolina, where Lords 
Rawdon and Cornwallis defeated the Americans, mortally 
wounding De Kalb. 

The Americans lost in the battle of Camden, five times as 
many as the British. It was computed at 2,000. General 
Gates and Sumpter then retired to North Carolina, where 
Col. Tarleton did them much mischief, especially at Fish- 
ing Creek and afterwards at Blacklock ; at the last place 
Sumpter was so dangerously wounded, that his company was 
disbanded. But at King's Mountain the British Colonel Fer- 
guson was killed, and his party defeated by the Carolini- 
ans under Campbell and Shelby. In the last of the year 
General Greene superseded Gates in the army of the South. 

This year was made the most painfully memorable in the 
war, by the treason of Benedict Arnold, who had begun so 
bravely five years before ; and by the execution of Major 
Andre. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 169 

Arnold was a person of no moral principle. A high, liver 
and gamester, he became overwhelmed in debt, and made dis- 
honest charges in his army accounts, which were therefore 
disallowed ; and when this produced disrespectful language 
on his part, he was tried and condemned to be reprimanded. 
Mortification, revenge, and the need of money combined to 
overwhelm and destroy all conscience and sense of honor ; 
and he offered to Sir Henry Clinton, for the sum of 10,000 
pounds and a commission in the British army, to betray West 
Point, of which he had the command. Sir Henry Clinton 
sent his aide-de-camp, Major Andre, to accept these terms, and 
concert the betrayal of the Americans. They met near 
Stony Point; but on Major Andre's return, he was surprised 
by three American soldiers, whom in the dark, and by their 
giving the English pass-word, he mistook for his own party. 
When he discovered that he had betrayed himself, he endeav- 
ored to bribe them to let him off; but they were true to their 
country, and examining him, they found Arnold's letters to 
Sir Henry Clinton, in his boots. The names of these men 
were John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wert. 
They conducted Andre to Col. Jameson at Peekskill, who 
inconsiderately allowed him to write to Arnold, who b^ing 
thus warned, seized a boat and escaped. A command was 
given to Arnold in the British army, and he was sent to Vir- 
ginia, where he laid waste his own country with seeming joy. 
He was made a Brigadier-general and had 1,600 men. 

But Major Andre had a tragical fate. By the laws of war, 
his life was forfeited. He had a trial by a court martial, and 
was condemned to be hanged as a spy. Everybody pitied 
him, and Washington made a strong effort in secret to save 
him, by attempting to get possession of Arnold's person — the 
brave and self-sacrificing Champ, an American sergeant, being 
induced to feign desertion into the British army, in order to 



170 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

bring it about. Tbe plan of taking tbe traitor failed, and 
Cbamp, who was not suspected by the British, was put into 
their fleet with Arnold's detachment to Virginia, and could not 
escape for some time. Meanwhile Major Andre suffered 
death, and the guilty Arnold saved his ignoble life to be de- 
spised by all parties. 

The American Commanders had infinite difficulties with 
the rank and file, whether militia, or enlisted soldiers, from 
want of means to pay them. On the first day of January, 
1781, the distress of the unpaid troops, came to a crisis, and 
the Pennsylvanian line revolted ; and soon after the troops of 
New Jersey did the same. The latter were put down by 
Washington's decision, who marched against them. Sir 
Henry Clinton, hearing of the difficulties, sent emmissaries to 
the Pennsylvanians, making them tempting offers. The Con- 
gress, however, though driven almost i;o the last extremity, 
did not despair. They had already directed their agents in 
Europe to borrow money of France, Spain, and Holland ; 
and had obtained between two and three millions of dollars. 
They, therefore, promised the Pennsylvanian mutineers an 
immediate supply of clothing, and an early payment of their 
debt to them; and at that they were pacified, and Sir Henry 
Clinton's emissaries were delivered up, who were immediately 
hanged, Eobert Morris of Philadelphia, at this time met the 
general distress, by nobly pledging his own fortune and credit; 
(an example which many others followed). 

In 1781, the Americans began to have some success in the 
South. The terrible Tarleton was defeated in the battle of the 
Cowpens^by Col, Morgan, whom Lord Cornwallis pursued, but 
did not come up with, until he had been joined by General 
Greene, and afterwards by General Huger ; and on the 15tli 
of March; the American Army of 4,400 took a post at the 
Guildford Court House, and gained a battle, though Corn- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 171 

wallis retreated in order, and went into Virginia, to assist 
Arnold in subduing that State. 

Greene, meanwliile, turned South, towards Lord Rawdon's 
army, which was at Camden, and entrenched himself about a 
mile off, where he came very near defeating the British ; but 
did, in the end, find himself obliged to retreat a few miles. 
The British however, lost much ground by the rising of the 
people against them ; and Marion, Sumpter and Lee took some 
forts, and nearly a thousand prisoners. Little was done on 
either side during the hot months of June, July, and August ; 
but on the 8th of September, General Greene attacked the 
British at Eutaw Springs. It was a terrible battle, and 
General Greene took 500 prisoners. This battle recovered 
South Carolina to the Americans, except Charleston, where 
Colonel Stuart, who had succeeded Lord Rawdon, retired, 
with the British Army and remained inactive till the end of 
the war. In the meanwhile, Arnold and Lord Cornwallis 
were ravaging Virginia, opposed by Lafayette, who, however, 
had not a sufficient army for the purpose. But fortunately 
Cornwallis was called off by Sir Henry Clinton, to defend New 
York, which Washington appeared to be about to attack ; and 
in order to go easily to him, at any moment, he fortified his 
camp at the mouth of York river, in Yorktown, or Chesapeak 
bay. But Washington had only made a feint of attacking 
New York, in order to keep Sir Henry Clinton there, on the 
alert ; and he marched his army directly towards Yorktown, 
where he was joined by the 7000 French troops under La- 
fayette, while the French fleet entered the Bay, preventing 
any water communication between Lord Cornwallis and Sir 
Henry Clinton. 

Meanwhile Arnold had gone from Virginia to New York, 
and Clinton sent him to ravage Connecticut, which he did 
with a perfectly Indian cruelty, His hope was, to divert the 



172 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

American army from Yorktown. But this was not effected ; 
tlie Americans besieged the British there, and with the help 
of the French, took two redoubts, In ten days from the be- 
ginning of the siege, Oornwallis despaired. After having 
made one attempt to escape across the river, which was made 
fruitless by a storm, he surrendered 7000 men and 60 cannon 
to the Americans, and two frigates and 20 vessels to the 
French, on condition that one sloop should pass to New York, 
with such persons on board as he should select. 

This was the last battle of the American Revolutionary 
War. It took place October 17th, 1781. Lafayette, who 
had largely contributed to the success of the battle of York- 
town, immediately returned to France. 

But the armies were not disbanded. The year 1782 was 
taken up in settling the preliminaries of peace, which was ne- 
gotiated, on the part of the United States, by John Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. On the 
19th of April, 1783, the 8th anniversary of the battle of 
Lexington, a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in 
America ; and on the 3d of September, the peace of Paris 
was signed. 

The terms of this treaty were, that the United States was 
to have all the territory east of the Mississippi, excepting 
Florida, which was confirmed to Spain. Before the year 1783 
closed, the British troops left the country ; New York and 
Charleston, South Carolina, being the last places of their so- 
journ. ~ 

Washington bade adieu to the army on December 4th and 
on December 23d appeared before Congress and resigned his 
commission. 

This bird's eye view of the action of the Eevolutionary 
war, leaves of course a great deal unsaid. It should be kept 
in mind that during the five years of actual hostilities, a vast 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 173 

deal transpired of wliicli no word lias been said, and which 
throws great light npon the characters of those engaged. It 
is the first war on human record for the privilege of self-gov- 
ernment hy the nxasses. There must he many more such 
wars probably, before the nations of the world can be started 
upon their full career of self-development ; and as we look 
upon them, and their chequered character, we must not forget 
that there were dark moral passages in our war, jealousies, 
treasons, meanness, selfishness ; and that we did not triumph 
without the aid of foreign money, foreign troops, and foreign 
recognition of our Independence. We had also the advantage 
of being divided by a broad ocean from our enemy. 

Our greatest advantage, of a personal character, was the 
transcendant wisdom and virtue of Washington, and the con- 
fidence he inspired, a confidence that was very unlike the 
kind of enthusiasm which generally has attended a great 
military leader. Yet he too suffered from misapprehension, 
and did not escape calumny ! His Life by Irving, and his 
Life and Papers by Sparks, should be studied by all Ameri- 
cans. 

The population of the United Colonies at the beginning of 
the War of Independence, was roughly estimated at 3,000,- 
000, one-tenth of whom, 300,000, were actually engaged in 
battle : and one-tenth of those engaged, 30,000, perished. The 
British, also, lost 29,000 men out of 150,000 engaged, and had 
8,000 taken prisoners, while they only took 5,000 American 
prisoners. 

The cost of the war to the Americans, was $135,000,000, of 
which $8,000,000 was to be paid to foreign powers at its close, 
16,000,000 to France, $2,000,000 to Holland. 

The Congress of the confederation had issued paper money, 
which, in consequence of depreciation in value, reached the 
figure of $350,000,000. 



174 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

At the close of the war the discharge of the foreign debt, to- 
gether with a domestic one of $30,000,000, principally due to 
the officers and soldiers of the Revolution, rested upon the 
Congress of the Confederation. 



LESSON XXIII. — American Revolution. 

Where and why did the voice of organized resistance to 
England burst out in America ? What was the occasion 1 
Why was it especially exasperating that they should be called 
on to pay the expenses of the war 1 What waked into con- 
sciousness their political self-respect ? On what ground did 
they resist? What developed our fierce democracy] What 
was the trick of the Stamp Act 1 What did the people imme- 
diately do ? What did Patrick Henry do ? Where was the 
first Continental Congress convened, and what did it do ? 
What showed that all this was not the action of a few leaders, 
or States, but national? What defence did the Americans 
have in the House of Commons ? Had it any in the House 
of Lords ? What decision came from all these quarters ? Y/'as 
the Stamp Act repealed? What did Charles Townsend do, 
(and why) two years after ? With what question did the Col- 
onies meet his cunning pretext ? How was Boston punished 
for its resistance ? What can you tell about " the Boston Mas- 
sacre ?" What act of magnanimity justified the spirit of popu- 
lar resistance ? What did Parliament do on hearing of this ? 
Was that satisfactory ? What did the Colonies do about the 
tea-ships which the East India Company sent out? What 
did Lord North do to punish this ? Why was General Gage 
made Governor of Massachusetts? What new outrage of 
England was heard of the next day ? What were the first 
consequences of the Boston Port bill ? What was the consti- 
tution of the Continental Congress that convened at Philadel- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 175 

phia, Sept. IStli, 1774 ? What did it do immediatelj ? What 
outrage consummated the Revolution 1 Had Massachusetts 
made any provision of a military character 1 What was the 
first military operation ! What was the first occasion of call- 
ing out the " minute men," and how was it done ? What hap- 
pened at Concord? What happened at Lexington? What 
was the battle? When was it; and what called? 

What did the Legislative Assemblies of other Colonies do ? 
What was done, May 10th, on Lake Champlain ? What on 
James River ? What great national act was done on May 
10th ? What was the next act of Congress ? What was done 
on June 19th ? What had happened in Massachusetts, two 
days before ? What occasioned the battle of Bunker Hill ? 
Describe the whole affair ? What was attempted in Canada; 
and with what success ? What was done in Virginia ? What 
military success had the British in 1775 ? In what books can 
all the details of the battles of the Revolution be found ? 
Where did George Washington meet the army? Why did 
he not assault Boston ? What proof is there that this was his 
reason ? What was the condition of the army ? What was 
Washington's hope ? How large did his army become in the 
Spring of 1776 ? Why did he fortify Dorchester Heights ? 
What effect had it on the British ? When ? 

Why did Washington leave Boston for New York in April ? 
Who had preceded him thither ? Where did Sir Henry Clin- 
ton go with the English fleet ? What other fleet did he meet ? 
What place did they attack ? What was their success ? Tell 
all about the battle of Fort Moultrie. Where did all the Brit- 
ish forces concentrate themselves, July 12th ? What were 
they ? 

What great event had taken place eight days before? 
Who proposed it ? Who drafted it ? Who signed it ? What 
prophecy did John Adams make that day ? What prelimi- 



176 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

nary did Lord Howe make to Ms attack on Xew York ? and 
with what result ? Where did the British army land ? What 
do you remember of the battle of Brooklyn ? What losses did 
Washington sustain immediately afterward ? Where then did 
he go ? What possibility did he speak of ? What discourage- 
ments were there ? What successes did Lord Oornwallis have ? 
What did Washington suddenly determine to do ? What do 
you remember of the battle of Trenton ? What victory did 
he have on the 1st of January, 1777 ? What do you remem- 
ber of the battle of Princeton ? What successes followed this ? 
Why did the people of New Jersey rise against the British ? 
Where did Washington go to winter ? Where was the Ameri- 
can fleet all this time ? What exploits were there in Con- 
necticut and on Long Island, in the early part of 1777 ? What 
was the military plan of the British this year ? What part 
had General Burgoyne to take ? What, St. Leger ? What, 
Sir Henry Clinton ? . How did G-enerals Schuyler and Arnold 
interfere with this ? What did Burgoyne do while Schuyler 
retired to Saratoga? What do you remember of the battles 
of Bennington ? What circumstances occurred that contrib- 
uted to the increase of General Gates' army ? What was his 
first battle ? What happened on the 7th of October ? What 
distinguished foreigner was chief engineer in the American 
army at this time ? When and what was Burgoyne's surren- 
der ? What were the consequences of this on the great scheme 
of the British 1 Meantime what had Lord Howe undertaken to 
do ? What do you remember of the battle of the Brandy- 
wine ? What great foreigners were in. this battle ? When 
did the British take possession of Philadelphia ? Where 
did the American Congress go ? What do you remember of 
the battle of Skippack creek ? What losses did the Ameri- 
cans have then ? Where did Washington go ? What were 
the American prospects and difficulties ? What conspiracy 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 177 

existed against Washington ? What beautiful story did Col- 
onel Pickering tell of Washington, at this time, which shows 
his superiority to ambitious intrigues? 

What had Congress done, in the early part of the year 1777, 
to raise money, &c. ? With what effect ? When were the 
best effects of this embassy seen ? What were they ? What 
suggested to the British to intrigue for peace ? How did they 
do it ? With what effect ? Why did the British abandon 
Philadelphia ? What battle ensued on Washington's quitting 
Valley Forge ? What order did Washington give to the 
French fleet which arrived in June, 1778 ? What do you re- 
member of the battle of Quaker Hill ? What of the massacre 
of Wyoming ? What did the British do in the far South this 
year, 1778 ? What did the British do in Georgia, in the 
early part of 1779 ? Where did Colonel Pickens defeat the 
tories ? What victories did the British general, Prevost, 
have ? In what did he fail ? What mischief did the British 
do in Virginia at the same time ? What successes did Clinton 
himself have 1 What did General Wayne do at Stony Point ? 
What was done in Connecticut by General Tryon ? What do 
you remember of the battle of Savannah ? What had General 
Sullivan done in August on the Susc[uehanna ? What were 
his forces ? What had been done on the coast of Scotland ? 
What disasters had General Lincoln, in South Carolina, in 
1780 ? Who conquered South Carolina, and in what manner ? 
What aid had the British received ? With whom did Clinton 
leave South Carolina, when he returned to New York ? What 
rekindled the spirit of independence in the South ? What re- 
inforcement to the Americans came from Europe in July? 
How was it procured ? Who led the patriots of South Caro- 
lina ? What other generals joined them 1 What do you re- 
member of the battle of Hanging Eock ? What, of the battle 



8* 



178 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

of Camden ? Where did Generals Gates and Sumner then go ? 
What happened at Fishing Creek ? and at Blacklock ? and at 
King's Mountain ? Who took the command of the army at 
the South the last of this year ? What do you remember of 
the affair of Arnold's treason ? What attempt did Washing- 
ton make, in order to save Andre ? Who were the men who 
searched Andre ? What reward did Arnold receive from the 
British ? Where was he sent, and what did he do ? 

What caused a revolt of the American troops in Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, in 1781 ? How did Congress 
get money ? What generous thing did Eobert Morris, of 
Philadelphia, do ? What successes did the Americans now 
have in the South, at Cowpens ? at Guildford Meeting- 
House ? Where did Lord Cornwallis then go ? How did 
the British lose ground in South Carolina ? Did General 
Greene defeat Lord Rawdon at Camden ? How did he suc- 
ceed at Eutaw Springs, and with what general effect ? Who 
was opposing Lord Cornwallis and Arnold in Virginia, mean- 
while ? How came Cornwallis to be called off? Why did he 
fortify himself at Yorktown ? How did Washington manoeu- 
vre ? and how was Washington reinforced at Yorktown ? 
Where was Arnold sent ? What was the hope of the British 
from this movement ? What did the Americans do at York- 
town, and with what effect ? What did Cornwallis do ? What 
were the conditions of the surrender? When did this last 
battle of the Revolutionary war take place ? Were the armies 
disbanded? How was the year 1782 spent? When was the 
cessation of hostilities proclaimed? When was the peace 
signed at Paris ? What were the terms of it ? What did 
Washington do on December 4th, and 8th ? What chequered 
the moral character of this contest during its progress ? Did 
we triumph altogether by our own prowess and resources ? 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 179 

What was our greatest personal advantage ? Did he ever 
suffer obloquy and a want of confidence ? Where can his life 
and character he studied 1 

What was the population of the colonies when the war be- 
gan ? How many were engaged in it ? How many of these 
perished ? How many did the British lose ? How many 
prisoners were taken on both sides ? 

What was the cost of the war ? What was the debt to 
foreign powers at the close of the war ? How much paper 
money had been issued ? Who was to pay these debts ? 

The Federal Union — 1787-9. 

The peculiarity of the history of the United States is, that 
it is a history of political discovery and experiment ; and 
therefore it is nearly impossible to give it attractions for the 
imagination of very young students. But we do what we 
can, as the public school law of most of the States requires 
that the historical education of the pupils shall begin with it. 
American history, as has been intimated before, is a subject 
for the mature mind, because it turns on principles, and not 
on personal will ; while all previous history is a series of 
biographies of remarkable men, who have undertaken, more 
or less, to farm out the world for their own families. But all 
individualities of persons are swallowed up in that of the 
nationality which inspires the Federal Union of the United 
States of America. 

There are two elements in a nation's prosperity : one, the 
principle of its life ; the other, its material wealth. The prin- 
ciple of life in America, is, the liberty to discover and 
OBEY, forevermore, that constitution and those laws of society 
which legitimately grow out of the destiny God has given to 
Hnm^nity — a. destiny stated with terseness in the first sen- 



180 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tence of the Declaration of AmericaD Independence. Any 
material advantage which violates this liberty will be refused 
by the true American, as was frequently done at the period 
of the Eevolution. With this idea in the mind, the Constitu- 
tion of the Federal Union, and the administration of each 
President, should be studied and judged by reason and con- 
science. 

In order to understand the Union, it is, in the first place, 
indispensable to remember, that the thirteen States which had 
confederated to throw off the oppressive government of a 
common mother country, were, in a legal point of view, as 
completely independent sovereignties, with respect to each 
other, as the several nations of Europe. Each had enjoyed an 
independent development and legislation, as has been shown ; 
and no one had the smallest right to exercise any authority 
over any other. 

It is true, that once or twice in the course of their history, 
two or three of them had joined together for some special pur- 
pose. The New England colonies united in 1643, and again 
in 1690, against the Indians. And as soon as difficulties be- 
tween the colonies and mother country grew up, on the ex- 
tent of her parliamentary power, Otis, Franklin, and others, 
began to say that a union must take place, loyalty to which, 
as a nationality, would supersede the filial sentiment to Great 
Britain. But even when the confederation for the war was 
proposed by Massachusetts, it was debated, and not acceded to 
at once, except by South Carolina. While the war was going 
on, the confederation empowered the Congress to assess all 
the expenses growing out of the war, upon the several States, 
in proportion to their resources and population ; (and then it 
was that the slaves were reckoned only as three-fifths of their 
actual number, at the earnest instance of the South, who spoke 
of them rather as a burden than as an element of strength) ; 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 181 

also, to deal as one nation witli foreign nations, making al- 
liance, and borrowing money for all tlie States as one. But 
difficulties arose, when fluctuation of fortune made the paper 
currency depreciate ; as Congress had then no basis of power 
to enforce its decrees, except martial law, which it was neces- 
sary to exercise with prudence, especially outside the camp. 
Difficulties multiplied during the time when negotiations for 
peace were pending, for then the States began to realize the 
impoverishment produced by the war. Pecuniary credit is 
the measure of a permanent power. Congress had none. 
It could recommend to the several States to pay their quotas 
of the interest money due on the public debt, but their legis- 
latures independently decided whether or not to accept these 
recommendations. The resources of the States for payment 
were dependent on the development of the same by trade, 
and the trade required regulating laws. The material interest 
of each State was really, in the long run, the interest of every 
other. But material interests are blind to general interests, 
and mutually destructive ; so that laws preventing individual 
States from ruining each other, were requisite. The refusal 
to pay the interest on the public debt was really, in the main, 
from want of means. In Massachusetts, the State legislature 
laid taxes for the purpose, which produced Shay's rebellion, 
and it took a large military force to put it down. Happily, a 
timely energy, mixed with clemency to the leaders, who were 
at first condemned to death, but subsequently pardoned, dis- 
couraged similar movements elsewhere. 

But a moment's consideration will show that, with the com- 
mon responsibility of an immense foreign and domestic debt, 
to be divided in a manner satisfactory to all ; with an immense 
extent of unchartered territory, subject to the conflicting 
claims of all ; with unadjusted boundaries ; with an army dis- 
banded, without being paid ; and finally, with the possibility 



182 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

of tlie States making conflicting laws for trade and otter pur- 
poses, tliere existed all tlie danger and causes of war between 
these several independent sovereignties, that had taken effect 
for ages in the old continent, deluging it with blood, and where 
matters were still only settled by the right of the strongest — 
a settlement which is only a suppressed war status — ever 
ready to break out into open conflict. Was this " tragedy 
of ages " to be acted over again on this side of the Atlantic ? 
The wise and noble men of all the States said, " No ! the con- 
federation must be preserved." But the constitution of it was 
plainly too weak. The question had already arisen of raising 
an army to compel refractory States to abide by their pecu- 
niary engagements, and there were threatenings of war be- 
tween some of the States on the q[uestion of territory. Yet a 
common enthusiasm for freedom to govern themselves, had 
united the States in war ; a common sentiment of patriotism 
had grown strong by their union in suffering ; the blood of al- 
most every State had watered the soil of nearly every other ; 
their general relations with foreign countries were the same ; 
a general organization of the laws of industry and commerce 
would multiply the resources of each State by those of every 
other. Could the plan of a constitutional union, which 
would make all strong with the strength of each, fail to pre- 
sent itself to reason and humanity ? 

An army is always inclined to a monarchical organization. 
A conspiracy had arisen in 1782 among some of the officers to 
consolidate the States, and an offer was made to Washington 
of the supreme power. The proposition met with a withering 
rebuke from that true republican— 

" Who felt a grandeur that disdained a crown," 

and, with the statesmen with whom he was in correspondence, 

Washington himself conceived, as early as 1781,* that there 

*^ See letter to Mr. Pendleton in Madison Papers, Vol 1. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 183 

migtt be a general government that should be representative, and 
whose officers should be elective, which should be sovereign 
for certain purposes, to be specified in a written constitution, 
and yet should leave each State sovereign within its own ter- 
ritory, with respect to every thing else than what was so speci- 
fied. 

After six years of vain experimenting with the poverty- 
struck Congress of the confederation, a constitutional conven- 
tion was called, which met in Philadelphia, in 1787. 

The world has never yet seen a grander sight, than the 
convention of those thirteen independent sovereignties, in 
earnest deliberation, with a sincere purpose to unit© them- 
selves in a manner so just, as to preserve internal and rela- 
tive independance, for individual development on the one 
hand ; but on the other, to preclude war with each other for- 
ever, and cooperate to recommend E-epublican Government 
to mankind, by successfully prosecuting all the legitimate 
means of national growth and aggrandizement. Washington 
was unanimously elected its President ; and, without claiming 
for it absolute perfection, it must be agreed, that no purer, 
juster, wiser, political assembly had ever met on earth. It 
convened the same year that the assembly of notables met in 
France. In comparing it with that, or even with the French 
Constituent assembly, we realize the vast difference between 
the antecedents and objects of the two deliberating bodies. 
A despotism which had corrupted social life for ages, was 
to be destroyed in France, and republicanism to be created 
out of its ruins, by human will and wit. In America, on the 
contrary, two hundred years of the growth of social virtue 
and happiness, in their turn growing out of liberty to worship 
God with individual integrity, that had been all that time strug- 
gl€d for, was to be conserved. The material out of which 
the Federal Republic was to be made [e plurihus tmum, from 



184 - CHKONOLOGICAL HISTOKY 

many one), were in themselves organized republics, wMcli had 
had a century of practical experience, and contained models 
for the form and operation of the new government. 

The debates of the Federal convention are fully reported 
by James Madison himself; whose introductory statement 
shows that he could comprehend the greatness of what was 
doing. The " Madison Papers '^ should be studied by all 
Americans, in order to understand the spirit in which the let- 
ter of the Constitution was indicted. For the information of 
those who wish to know precisely what passed on the subject 
of slavery and the compromises, reference may be made to 
Hildreth's History, chapter XXIX, where it is all also stated. 

The Constitution of the Federal Government is too long a 
document to be inserted here, in its details. Its general fea- 
tures are as follows : There is firstly, a house of Representa- 
tives, elected by the people in their primary assemblies, every 
two years, every State having at least one representative, and 
no State having more than one for every thirty thousand in- 
habitants, at most. Secondly, there is a Senate, two senators 
from each State, to be so elected by the Legislatures of \h.Q 
States, that every two years, one third of the whole m^ay be 
new members. They are however to be elected for a term 
of six years. These two bodies are to constitute one Legis- 
lature, which must meet at least once a year. Thirdly, the 
people choose colleges of Electors, by Districts, who elect a 
President and Vice President, once in four years. The Con- 
gress have power to regulate the trade with foreign nations 
and between the States ; to make treaties with foreign nations ; 
to declare war and peace ; to collect revenue > to govern the 
United States Territories till they have population sufficient 
to be constituted sovereign States in Federal Union ; to en- 
tirely govern the District of Columbia, where the Federal 
Government has it seat ; but it has no power within the sover- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 185 

eign States, that is not expressly granted in tlie written Con- 
stitution. 

The President has a limited right of veto on the acts of 
Congress ; appoints his own cabinet, which at first consisted 
of three Secretaries, — of War, of State, of the Treasury. He 
also appoints the Attorney-G-eneral, and a Postmaster-General ; 
the Custom Hoiise officers, and local Postmasters ; and, with 
the advice of the Senate, the Foreign Ministers and Consuls, 
and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He himself is 
Commander-in-Chief of the United States army. The Judi- 
ciary is independent; because the judges retain office during 
good behavior. 

Thus the American Constitution of Government, like 
the constitution of a human being, distributes the execu- 
tive will, the deliberative judgment, and the moving pas- 
sions, so that they may fairly keep each other in activity 
as well as in check. The people at the ballot box are 
the passion ; the Congress is the deliberative judgment, 
the President is the executive will ; the Judiciary is the 
conscience. Each State has a like distribution of human na" 
ture in its government. But as for men, so for nations, there 
is a Supreme Power of Love and "Wisdom, that must purify 
passion, judgment, and will, or they will act on each other in a 
vicious circle, to the end of mutual corruption ; and by an eter- 
nal decree GOD acts in men, only so far as He is intelligently 
worshipped. But unless God acts within our rulers to icill and 
to do, blind passion will draw the national will and mind to 
serve merely selfish and material ends. Our Congress and 
executive will always preserve a precise ratio to the actual 
character of our people. The only hope of the E-epublic's 
progressive development, and healthy social condition, there- 
fore, is, in the intelligence and virtue of the people : and 
these, in their turn, depend upon the religious humility which 



186 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTOEY 

becomes the sons of men, and the infinite aspiration which 
becomes the sons of God, neither of which any political or 
social organization can create, but which grows from indi- 
vidual consciousness of moral responsibility to God. The 
principle of Eoger Williams, in 1636 a private opinion of 
one man, has now become the governing sentiment of the na- 
tion ; the Church and State are recognized to belong to differ- 
ent spheres, each having its own independent laws of organ- 
ization, like the body and soul ; whose free interfusion, how- 
ever, is health and happiness. 

The Federal Constitution presupposes its human imperfec- 
tion and capacity of improvement, organizing this reasonable 
humility and progressive aspiration into a provision for self- 
amendment. 

It could not be hoped that there were no elements of evil 
within the States, or in their possible relations to each other, 
and to foreign nations, which might not work out, in the course 
of time, into the political plane. Provision was made, there- 
fore, for constitutional changes, and for the impeachment of 
the Executive, and of members of Congress, for crime. 

The epoch of the Convention planted the seed of two par- 
ties, both republican ; one intent on defending the sovereign- 
ties of the States from encroachment, which was subseq^uently 
called the Democratic party; the other, more especially striv- 
ing to give the necessary strength to the General Govern- 
ment, which was called the Federal party ; and these names 
were retained long after those who bore them changed their 
relative positions ; the first two administrations being con- 
ducted by the Federalists, the second, two by the Democrats. 
Both parties were in the right in their general principles, and 
this was realized, after a quarter of a century, when it could 
be plainly seen that each party was a salutary check on the 
extremes of the other. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 187 

It is not parties that are dangerous to a free government. 
Honest parties watch, each other, and correct each other's mis- 
takes, as they follow each other in healthy alternation. But 
party spirit, that is, the headlong tendency which makes par- 
tisans sacrifice their conscience, and even their own opinion, to 
the formulas of their party, and especially to the desire for 
office, is, of all things, to he deprecated in the United States. 
It has become a fair question, whether the unlimited power of 
Executive appointment does not stimulate this selfish spirit 
too much. 

But the only effective way of keeping party spirit down, is 
to recognize that there are Eternal Laws of Eight and Wrong, 
before whose tribunal all the actions of nations, as well as of 
individual men, are to be brought, by inevitable Time. 

The limit of a man's duty to his party, is his conscientious 
judgment upon its action ; and it is absolutely necessary that 
every American should have so much intellectual and moral 
development, as to be able to judge his party, ev^n though he 
may not control it. This fair moral and intellectual develop- 
ment can alone save multitudes from being the victims of self- 
seeking demagogues, who prove the worst of tyrants at last. 
And, to ensure this development, there must be freedom to 
Spiritual Religion, which is alone adequate to control the sel- 
fish passions, and keep the reason clear. Every American 
should make it a point to educate himself and his children, by 
all the experience of the past, with religious fidelity to rea- 
son and conscience, and to every word that proceedeth out of 
the mouth of God ; because, just in proportion to his or her 
personal energy, every American affects his country's future, 
for good or for evil. 

Benjamin Franklin expressed his regret, that our national 
ensign was the Eagle, because it is a bird of prey. The barn 



188 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

yard fowl, wliicli he playfully proposed to substitute, was still 
Avorse for the imagination, the turkey being the very emblem 
of mere material good. 

The American Constitution, securing as it does, freedom to 
the people to legislate for their own homesteads, yet granting 
immunity to the religious element to organize from within, 
like the principle of vegetation, which never petrifies in its 
forms, yet never fails of form, deserves a better emblem. Why 
did he not think of the skylark, that builds his nest upon the 
solid ground, even in the humble grass, yet keeps his eye 
upon it, however he may screw the morning heavens in his 
upward flight, being always ready to drop into it at will, if 
danger assail it : — 

' ' Type of the wise ; who soar, but never roam, 
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home.' ' 

For, in the attainment by individual Americans of these two 
objects — Heaven and a pure and virtuous Home — it might be 
hoped that every social, political, and ecclesiastical evil would 
be gradually worked off the National Life. 

And, indeed, the eagle is not merely a bird of prey ; it has 
the splendid characteristic of gazing upon the sun, as no other 
created eye can do. In this may it characterize the American 
Eepublic, which, unlike the E-oman, shall conquer, not as a bird 
of prey, but by having for its ideal object the original light of 
Eternal Law I 

LESSON XXIV. . 

What is the peculiarity of the history of the United States, 
after the Eevolution % What are the elements of every Na- 
tion's prosperity] What is the principle of life in America? 
What is necessary to remember, in order to understand the 
Federal Union? How had this mutual independence happen- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 189 

ed 1 Had tlie Colonies ever united 1 "When did it appear to 
Otis, Franklin, and others, that a "union should take place ? 
Was this immediatelj acceded to, for the war merely 1 What 
powers had the Congress of the Confederation ? What difficul- 
ties arose, and why 1 When and how were these difficulties 
multiplied 1 What power had the Congress, after the peace ? 
What difficulties did it meet with then 1 What causes of war 
existed ? What had been the effect of similar causes in 
the Old World 1 Was this tragedy of ages to be acted over 
again on this side of the Atlantic ? What was the defect of 
the Congress of the Confederation 1 What sympathies and 
similar relations suggested a union to reason and humanity ? 
What was the action of the army at this juncture, and with 
what effect ? When and where did the Constituent Conven- 
tion assemble ? What was the character of that convention ? 
How did it compare, in antecedents and objects, with the 
French Constituent Assembly ? What advantages had Amer- 
ica, for a Federal Republican government 1 Who reported 
the debates of the Federal convention ? Where may a sum- 
mary of them be found ? Why should the " Madison Papers" 
be studied? 

What are the general features of the Federal Constitution 
of government? What powers has the Congress? What 
powers has the President ? How does the American Consti- 
tution distribute human nature in the government ? and why ? 
What can prevent these finite powers from acting in a vicious 
circle, to the end of mutual corruption ? 

How far can we believe the Supreme Being acts in meni 
What if He do not act in our rulers "to will and to do?" 
What must the character of our Congress and Executive al- 
ways be 1 What then is the hope of the Republic 1 On what 
do the intelligence and virtue of the people depend 1 On what 
does humility and aspiration depend? What was the princi- 



190 CHEONOLOGICAL HISI'ORY 

pie of Roger Williams, that was now realized on tlie political 
plane by the nation ? What ideas are embodied in the pro- 
visions of the constitution for self-amendment 1 Are the offi- 
cers of government impeachable ? What parties took root in 
this epoch ? Which was right 1 Are parties of any nse 1 
What is party spirit ? How can this be kept down 1 What 
is the limit of a man's duty to his party ? What is necessary 
in order to a man's being able to judge his party 1 Why is it 
necessary for an American especially ? How can a fair moral 
and intellectual development be ensured ? Why ] How should 
every American educate himself and his children ? Why ? 
What objection did Benjamin Franklin make to our national 
ensign ? What objection is there to what he proposed ? Why 
does the American constitution deserve for its emblem, a 

" Type of the wise ; — ^who soar but never roam, 
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home ?' ' 

What is this tz/pe ? Why ? How might every social, politi- 
cal, and ecclesiastical evil, be worked off the American na- 
tional life in the course of time ? 

What characteristic of the eagle makes it an emblem of the 
American Ideal ? How can the nation do justice to it ? 

LESSON XXV. — History of the Union. 

Why does the history of the United States become so rich, 
after the Union ? What would be a good plan of studying its 
constitutional history ? How do the States, and Union, seve- 
rally contribute to the general welfare and character of the na- 
tion ? What model has been pre.sented for the future develop- 
ment of the nation, by some theoretical writers ? To what 
principle, is it to be hoped, that it will rigidly adhere ? Why? 
How can the United States act, so as to preclude the occasion 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 191 

for military conquest ? With what grand result ? Did the 
Fathers of the Union overrate the constitution ? What was 
the majority for acceptance ?* What was done, at first, to re- 
commend it to the people's imagination ? 

History of the Union. 

From this time, the history of the United States becomes 
immensely rich for the education of a statesman ; because it is 
manifold ; the Union, as the nation, having a certain individu- 
ality not to be confounded with that of the States, each of 
which has a history of its own. It would be a very good plan 
to have the particular constitution of each State, and that of 
the Federal Union, in a comparative view, as no two are pre- 
cisely alike in the proportions of their several powers, which 
more or less balance each other ; and then again, to consider 
these, with referenee to the social prosperity and character, 
which has been developed under each, respectively. 

The States, as such, protect and foster the internal sources 
of material wealth, and social and moral good, by institutions 
of education and industry, according to local opportunities and 
necessities. The Union counteracts, (or it is its idea to do so) 
the narrowness, selfishness, and onesidedness, which has hith- 
erto been apt to be consecrated by patriotic feeling ; and im- 
parts to this sentiment, a consideration for the interests of 
others, which bids fair to make it, at last, nearly commensurate 
with Christian charity. 

There has been a book written, called the New Eome, by 
two theoretical Germans, which undertakes to show that the 
United States is to repeat, upon a gigantic scale, the expe- 

'■^ The acceptance had not two thirds majority. It was 719 Yotes to 441 
and three States did not vote, nor accept till afterward. 



192 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

rience of that old conqueror of tlie world. But it is to be hoped 
that our nation, instead of taking a monster despotism for its 
model, will live out the principle of Jesus Christ; who, when 
the devil took him up into a high mountain, and showed him 
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and 
said : " All these things I will give unto you, if you will fall 
down and worship me," — replied : " Get thee behind me Satan ; 
thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
serve !" Such a temptation already dawns on the United 
States ; — shall it not centre itself on such a principle ? Power 
which does not come from the right source — Eternal Justice — 
involves its own principle of decay. Let the United States be 
true to its own Declaration of Human Eights, discovering and 
obeying, as its constitution gives it Liberty to do, the true 
destiny of Humanity, and progressively making its political 
and social institutions conform to human wants, and the na- 
tions will not wait to be conquered, but will come and solicit 
annexation, and the modern Eepublic will turn out as much 
greater than Bome, as Christianity is truer than Paganism 1 

The Fathers of the Union did not, by any means, overrate, 
they rather underrated the constitution they had made ; and 
signed it with more or less doubt. Nor v/as it accepted by 
the States at once, nor without special stress being laid upon 
its principle of self-amendment. Its warmest friends felt 
that every thing must be done to make it take hold of the 
people's imagination ; and Mr. Hildreth, in the 1st Chapter 
of his fourth volume, has given an elaborate account of the 
Festival which attended its Inauguration in Philadelphia and 
several States.* 

* The teacher can, in all cases, recommend those of the class who are 
ahle, to look out the references to books made in the text ; and when the 
questions have been answered, call for voluntary contributions ; which 
will awaken the love and habit of research. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 193 



Washington's Administration. 

The History of the Union began with the unanimous elec- 
tion of George Washington, as its first President. Nothing- 
short of his intense interest in the Federal Union, could have 
allured him from his rustic retreat on Mount Vernon. He ac- 
cepted no salary, as he had taken no pay for his services dur- 
ing the war. His administration, of which Judge Marshall 
has given the History, in the last volume of his Life of Wash- 
ington, is his own practical commentary on the constitution, 
so far as circumstances admitted of its being carried out.* 
The high spirit of disinterestedness and impartiality with 
Tv^hich it was conducted, is a model for all succeeding Presi- 
dents. He exercised the prerogatives of his office in the same 
high toned spirit. On one occasion, when a relative of his 
wife, who was dining at his table, asked for an office under 
government, suggesting that his personal connection was a cir- 
cumstance in his favor, it is said that Washington, losing his 
accustomed self-command, in the extremity of his indignation 
— struck the table violently with his hand, and, in a voice of 
thunder demanded, what the gentleman had ever seen in him, 
to encourage him to make so insulting an insinuation as that, 
he would not allow nepotism, or anything but unquestionable 
qualification and merit, to influence his appointments ? 

Washington called to his cabinet, Thomas Jefferson as 
Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the 
Treasury, General Kaiox as Secretary of War. He also ap- 

*- Washington Irving's Life of Washington bids fair to be a treasury for 
the imagination and heart of the American Student. But the volume of 
Marshall, above referred to, can never be surpassed, as a history of Jiis 
administration. The materials for appreciation of Washington are re- 
markable, as Sparks has published all his papers. 



194 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

pointed Edward Randolph, Attorney General, and Jolin Jay, 
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 

One great concern of "Washington was to recover the 
pecuniary credit of the country. The Foreign and In- 
ternal debt amounted to fifty-four millions, and the sev- 
eral States owed twenty-five millions beside. In con- 
cert with Hamilton, "Washington proposed to the Congress 
of the Union, to assume the whole ; and, after some 
dispute as to the Internal and State debts, this measure 
of policy and justice was adopted. Duties had been laid at 
once upon shipping, imports, &c., to raise a revenue ; and the 
Bank of North America was incorporated in 1791, in which 
the government became a large stockholder. 

In the same year, Vermont was admitted into the Union. 
This State had been settled since 1723, and its territory was 
claimed both by New York and New Hampshire ; but its 
inhabitants had declared themselves an independent State in 
1777, when they had organized, and from that time they had 
administered an independent government. The great impedi- 
ment to Vermont's being received into the Union, was the 
claim of New York, which at length was bought off, for 
30,000 dollars. 

But already, in the year 1790, the Indian War in the north 
west, had called for the intervention of the Federal Grovern- 
ment. This war, originally instigated by the British, during 
the Revolutionary period, was believed, by the western set- 
tlers, to be still fomented by them, as they had not yet given 
up their northwestern posts, and refused to do so, until arrange- 
ments were made to secure to the British generally, means of 
collecting their debts within the borders of the States. Har- 
raer was the first general sent by Washington against the In- 
dians, and he met with nothing but disaster. In 1791, the 
Governor of the northwest territory, General St. Clair, made 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 195 

an excnrsion SO miles north, from Fort Washington (now 
Cincinnati^, where he was defeated ; and 600 men, ont of his 
force of 2000, were killed : more wonld have fallen, but for the 
Indian avidity to plunder. The only real headway that was 
made against the Indians, in this war, was by the western set- 
tlers themselves ; especially those of Kentucky, who had 
grown to be so powerful, that they proposed to separate 
themselves from Virginia, and become a State, and applied to 
be admitted into the Union. A very pleasant history of 
Kentucky, as well as of Virginia, and the other States, is to 
be found in Lippincott's Cabinet Library, giving the details of 
the settlements made by Boone and others. Boone went into 
Kentucky; and settled near Lexin^-ton, as early as the year 
1775 ; and the early history of Kentucky consists of daring 
exploits of adventure with the Indians. After the peace of 
1783, great efforts were made by the Spanish, to induce Ken- 
tucky to unite with them, or, at least, make an independent 
government. The bait they offered, was liberty to make 
New Orleans the place of deposit for their Merchandise. The 
whole history of this intrigue, which continued even after the 
Union, and whose object was to detach Kentucky, is given in 
the above mentioned volume. Also the history of the estab- 
lishment of Transylvania University. 

General Wayne became the Commander in the Indian War 
of 1794, and built Forts Recovery, Defiance, and Greenville. 
He gained a great victory over the Indians on the present site 
of the town of Waynesfield, laying waste their villages. 
But the Indian War was deeply affected by the treaty that 
Mr. Jay made with England, one article of which was, that 
the English should give up their hostile posts on the Indian 
frontier. 

Mr. Jay's treaty was the most important thing which hap- 
pened in Washington's second term of administration. It is 



196 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

said that, one daj, when conversing upon its necessity, with 
his Cabinet and Mr. Jay in presence — Washington turned 
towards him and said, "Mr. Jay — you must go and'negotiate 
this treaty." There was at first a profound silence, and then 
Mr. Jay said, " You are aware, that in the present temper 
of the country, whoever negotiates this treaty is sacrijiccdr 
Washington replied expressively — " Yes ; and therefore it 
must be you, who shall do it." Jay replied, "If you think it 
is best, I will go." It is refreshing to think, that there are 
men, who are capable of sacrificing popularity and high office 
in the service of their country. One hardly knows which 
most to admire in this case, the noble confidence of Washing- 
ton in his friends' disinterestedness, or Mr. Jay's magnani- 
mity. 

He went and made the treaty, assuring to the British re- 
covery of their private debts in the States, and opening im- 
mense advantages upon the American commerce. On his re- 
turn, he declined to resume the office of Chief Justice, and re- 
tired to a private life of dignity and beneficence, outliving ob- 
loq^uy, and dying in 1829, respected by all parties. In 1795, 
a treaty was made with the Indians, by which they ceded the 
country between the Ohio and Detroit and Mississippi rivers. 
The same year a treaty was made with the Spanish, securing 
the free navigation of the Mississippi, and making New Or- 
leans a place of deposit ; also, a treaty with the Barbary Pow- 
ers, by which the American shipping was rendered secure 
from piracy in the Mediterranean Sea, though at the price of 
a constant tribute, in the form of presents to the Bashaws of 
the several cities. 

There were some difficulties with France during Washing- 
ton's administration, which comprehended the most terrible 
years of the French Revolution. Its atrocities very much ex- 
cited the prejudices of the Federal party against France, and 



I 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 197 

not unreasonably ; while tlie Democratic party, also, not with- 
out justice, were inclined to forgive a great deal to the princi- 
ple of liberty, which was working in Europe at such fearful 
odds with internal corruption and external oppression. A dis- 
position to assist the French Republicans in their efforts was 
a natural dictate of human sympathy and American gratitude. 
But Washington saw that the United States were too poor, 
and weak, and far off, to interfere at that moment in Euro- 
pean struggles, and that the best thing that could be done for 
European liberty was to develop an American commonwealth 
by prosecuuing the arts of peace — and thus give pattern to 
mankind of the creative power of the republican principle. 
He expressly stated, that by preserving neutrality then, the 
Federal Union might grow to the height of acting with effect 
for the liberty of other nations, in later periods. But Mr. 
Genet, who had come to America as French minister, and was 
received warmly by the people, acted in recklessness of these 
known views of Washington ; and undertook to fit out priva- 
teers from the American ports against Great Britain. He 
also induced the formation of Jacobin clubs all over the coun- 
try, which were opposed in spirit to the neutral policy of the 
administration. Washington remonstrated with Mr. Genet in 
vain ; and at last he called upon the French Directory to re- 
call their minister, which they did. M. Genet subsequently 
married an American lady, and settled in New York, as a 
peaceful American citizen. 

LESSON XXVI. 

Was there a rival candidate to Washington for the Presi- 
dency ? What proof of his disinterestedness did he give on 
assuming the office ? What story is told of an office-seeker at 
his table ? What were his first appointments ? What plan 



198 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

did he and Hamilton make to restore tlie credit of the coun- 
try ? What was the amount of debt assumed 1 What meas- 
ures had been taken to secure a revenue 1 What bank was 
incorporated, and when ? What State was received into the 
Union this year ? What was the early history of Vermont ? 
What was the impediment to its being received into the 
Union ? How did it get rid of the New York claim ? 

What do you remember of the Indian War of the North- 
west ? its causes ? What generals were sent by the Federal 
Government, in 1790 and 1791, and with what issue? Who 
were the most important opponents of the Indians ! Who 
was the pioneer of Kentucky, and when ? What is the char- 
acter of its early history ? What political intrigue had its 
theatre in Kentucky ? What State claimed Kentucky for a 
long period 1 In what year was it admitted into the Union ? 
What literary institution did it establish ? What did General 
Wayne do in the Indian War in 1794 ? What great treaty 
helped to put an end to this war, by destroying its cause ? 
Who made the commercial treaty with Great Britain? What 
story is told of his being appointed to this negotiation ? What 
did his treaty bring about ? When was an Indian treaty 
made? What other treaties were made. that year? What 
difference of opinion existed in America about duty to the 
French Republic ? How did Washington decide, and why ? 
What do you remember about M. Genet's conduct ? How 
did all this end ? 

John Adams' Administration — 1797. 

When Washington declined reelection for a third term 
(wishing to make a precedent of rotation in office of the presi- 
dency), there was a strongly contested election ; John Adams 
being the candidate of the Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 199 

of tlie Democrats. The result was, tlie election of Adams as 
President, and of Jefferson as Vice-President. 

The most important circumstance of Adams's administration 
was the culmination of the difficulties with France. The 
French Directory had been very angry at Jay's treaty of com- 
merce with Great Britain, and had begun to seize and confis- 
cate American goods in their ports ; and they refused to re- 
ceive Mr. Pinckney, the American minister, because he was a 
Federalist. Mr. Adams convened an extra session of Con- 
gress, and set forth these things. But the party which sym- 
pathized with France was so strong, that three envoys were 
sent out to attempt a peaceable issue. The Alien and Sedi- 
tion laws were at this time passed by the Federal administra- 
tion, and regarded by France, as well as by the Democratic 
party in America, as contradicting the American spirit of lib- 
erty ; the one, enabling the President to order any foreigner 
out of the country ; and the other, restricting the press. The 
French then ordered two of the American envoys back, be- 
cause they would not act directly against Great Britain. This 
was deemed, by all parties, an intolerable insult. The coun- 
try was immediately put into a state of defence ; the treaty 
with France declared broken ; a navy armed with powers to 
seize French vessels ; and Washington accepted the command 
of the army. The war began and ended in 1798. It was 
entirely upon the sea The French government then made 
overtures of peace, which was concluded with Bonaparte, not 
till the year 1800. 

But in the year before, December 14th, 1799, Washington 
had died at Mount Vernon, of a sudden attack of croup. He 
was sixty-eight years of age. Congress adjourned at once, 
and the whole country put on mourning. The Independence 
of the United States, and their Federal Union, are his eulogy 
and monument ; which every year grow in magnificence, as 



200 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

tliey are more perfectly developed into their legitimate conse- 
quences. 

The State of Tennessee was admitted to the Union during 
Mr. Adams' administration. It had been previously claimed 
by North Carolina, from which State settlements had been 
made in it before the war. In 1790, North Carolina ceded it 
to the United States, and it entered the Union in 1799. 

In the year 1800, the seat of the Federal Government was 
removed from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia, a 
square of ten miles, situated on the Potomac, and ceded to the 
Federal Congress by the States of Virginia and Maryland. 
There the City of Washington had been in the process of 
building for ten years, upon a plan devised by the Father of 
the Country. The District of Columbia is under the jurisdic- 
tion of Congress alone. 

Mr. Adams' term of administration is a very important one 
in the political history of the United States. But it affords 
little matter for such a compend as this, which must not enter 
into disquisitions upon political questions. Hildreth's history 
is a resource for mature students, who wish to know all the 
facts ; he has given them, with iron impartiality, in his fifth 
volume. 

The materials for the appreciation of Adams are ample; 
his own letters, and those of his wife, having been published by 
his grandson. Other letters, not intended for publication, have 
also come before the public ; and we are made to see that 
there are great imperfections of character, which consist with 
a general usefulness, and learn to be charitable with respect 
to the characters of great men of our day. Adams was, v/ith 
many great faults, an honest man, and therefore did his coun- 
try service. His personality was egotistical and violent, with- 
out being selfish. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 201 

• LESSON XXYII.— Adams. 

Was Adam's election contested? How did the difficulties 
with France culminate ? "What did Adams do at tliis 
crisis, and what was determined upon by Congress? Yfhat 
unpopular laws were now passed ? What were they, and 
how regarded ? What did the French now do which drove 
the Americans to war "? What preparations were made ? 
What was the war, and how long did it last ? How was it 
closed ? What took place December 14th, 1799 ? What is 
Washington's ever-growing monument ? What new State 
was admitted to the Union the year of Washington's death? 
What had been its previous history ? When was the seat of 
government removed to Washington ? What can you tell of 
the origin and constitution of the District of Columbia ? What 
books can be consulted to learn of Mr. Adams' political and 
personal career 1 

General Eeview of the Eighteenth Century. 

What State was founded before the E-evolution in this cen- 
tury ? What year ? What States after the Revolution, and 
in what years ? How many years was it from the Stamp Act 
to the battle of Lexington ? [Look at the plate.] How many 
years of actual fighting were there ? How many years of the 
century was the Federal Union in force ? How, and when, is 
Washington's birth represented ? How, and when, his first 
public employment ? His death ? Whose death is repre- 
sented in 1726? in 1759? in 1769? in 1775? in 1780? in 
1799? Whose birth in 1732? Whose and what deed in 
1750? 1754? 1763? 1777? 1780? What treaty in 1713? 
1748? 1763? 1769? 1778? 1794? What three treaties in 
1795? What one in 1800 ? What was done by the British 



202 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

in 17C5 ? 1767 ! 1774 ? What by the Americans in 1773 ? 
What hj the French and Americans in 1777? 1778? 1780? 
1781 ? What misfortune happened to Indians in 1715 ? 1728 ? 
What happened in 1790? 1791 ! 1794? How and when is 
Lafayette's coming to assist America represented in 1777 ? 

Jefferson's Administration. 

Thomas Jeflferson, who had drafted the Declaration of In- 
dependence, succeeded to John Adams, as President, in the 
first year of the 19th century ; and Aaron Burr was elected 
Vice-President. Jefferson availed himself of his prerogative 
of appointment, and made many official changes in favor of his 
party. These he seemed to feel himself compelled to justify 
by letters of explanation, really meant as an address to the 
people, giving his reasons for the several changes, which he 
declared to be other than partisan considerations. Just at this 
moment the two most unpopular acts of Mr. Adams' adniinis- 
tration expired by limitation; viz., the Alien law, which had 
authorized the President to send out of the country any 
foreigner he might deem dangerous; and the Sedition law, 
which forbade libellous publications against the Government. 
All internal duties and direct taxes were also taken off. So 
that his administration began with good omens. 

The next year, 1802, Ohio, which had been settled at Ma- 
rietta, in 1788, was admitted into the Union. That same year 
the Spanish Governor of New Orleans closed that port against 
the United States, which was a violation of treaty. A propo- 
sition was at once made in Congress to take possession of Lou- 
isiana by violence. But, on investigation, it was found that 
it had been ceded to France, secretly, in 1800. The sympa- 
thies of Jefferson were strongly with France, and the United 
States were not at all disposed to go to war with Bonaparte, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 203 

wlio was then in tlie ascendant. Bonaparte also needed mo- 
ney, and France had suffered so much in the last century, 
from speculations in Louisiana lands, that the sale was not un- 
pleasing to the nation. Jefferson proposed to buy off the 
French claims, and, in 1803, Bonaparte sold Louisiana for 
15,000,000 dollars. It was immediately divided into two ter- 
ritories — Louisiana in the south, and Missouri, north of the 
Missouri river. 

The history of Louisiana is a long chapter, which has a 
very different aspect from that of the Atlantic coast. We 
have already referred to Gayarre's romance of its history, 
which is an attractive book for the young; and maturer stu- 
dents of law and politics should make themselves acq[uainted 
with his histories of the Spanish and French dominations in 
Louisiana. 

The Eastern States, especially the Federal party, opposed 
this annexation of territory, on account of its bringing upon 
the Anglo-Saxon race a mixture of French and Spanish char- 
acter and laws. Besides, liberty for the Federal Union to buy 
new territory was not expressed in the Constitution ; but the 
purchase secured the navigation of the Mississippi to the com- 
merce of the Western States, and took from Kentucky its 
temptation to secede from the Union. On the whole, it very 
much increased Mr. Jefferson's popularity in the country. 

In 1803, a war with Tripoli broke out. A treaty had ex- 
isted with Tripoli since 1795, by virtue of which the Federal 
Union paid a large sum of money every year, in the form of 
presents, to secure the immunity of its trading vessels from 
piracy in the Mediterranean sea. But the Bashaw so inso- 
lently multiplied his demands, that, at last, the American 
government refused payment ; whereupon the Bashaw declared 
war; and Commodore Preble, with a small squadron, was 
sent out to bombard Tripoli. The frigate Philadelphia, on 



204 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

entering tlie Iiarbor to reconnoitre, the last day of October, 
1803, struck against a rock, and was taken by the Tripolitans ; 
its officers, including Captain Bainbridge, being made prisoners 
of war, and its crew reduced to slavery. Commodore Preble 
bombarded Tripoli more than once, and gained a victory in 
open sea; but the most brilliant exploit was Lieut. Decatur's, 
who, on the 3d of February, 1804, under cover of the dark- 
ness, entered the harbor in a small schooner, went up to the 
side of the Phi|adelphia, leaped into it with some followers, 
drove into the sea and killed the Tripolitan crew, and set it 
on fire ; and, although the battery and surrounding vessels 
kept up a heavy cannonade from the moment he was discov- 
ered, lost not a single man, and succeeded in escaping I 

But the American Consul at Tunis, Mr. Eaton, attacked the 
Bashaw in another way. Finding that he had usurped the 
office he held, from his elder brother Hamet, he proffered the 
latter assistance to recover his rights. With seventy Ameri- 
cans, at whose head he put himself, he led Hamet and his fol- 
lowers, with some Arabs from Egypt that took Hamet's part, 
across the desert of Barca — a thousand miles — and took Derne, 
650 miles east of Tripoli, on the frontier of the State, being 
met and supported at that point, by the United States squad- 
ron. Mr Eaton's plan was to put Hamet on the throne, and 
have an honorable treaty between Tripoli and the United 
States ; and he seemed in a fair way of succeeding, when Mr. 
Lear, Consul at Algiers, with entire disregard of his plans and 
engagements to Hamet, renewed the old treaty with the Ba- 
shaw of Tripoli. Mr. Eaton came home to complain. Hamet 
and thirty followers were left in Sicily, and came near perish- 
ing for want. But the United States, to whom he appealed, 
sent him succour in money afterward. A very interesting 
account of this affair, is to be found in Spark's American Bio- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 205 

grapliy, in tlie life of Eaton, by C. C. Felton ; which also con- 
tains important evidence of the treason of Aaron Burr. 

Aaron Burr had not been made Vice President in the second 
term of Jefferson's administration, the party having substitu- 
ted George Clinton, of New York. Burr, who was very am- 
bitious and talented, then became candidate for the chair of 
the government of New York. At this time, Alexander Ham- 
ilton openly denounced him in all companies, as a political 
profligate. Burr challenged him to a duel, and Hamilton fell. 
The event produced a deep sensation, and when Hamilton's 
friend and admirer. Dr. Nott, preached, in his funeral sermon, 
a denunciation of duelling, and did not excuse his accepting 
the challenge — the bold and independent word, combined with 
the 23ublic grief for the loss of so distinguished a servant of his 
country, did much to give a death-blow to the prestige for 
duelling, throughout the Northern States. Mr. Hildreth 
grows eloquent on the character of Hamilton. He says the 
country experienced a loss by it '' second only to that of Wash- 
ington. Hamilton possessed the same rare and lofty qualities, 
the same just balance of soul, with less, indeed, of Washing- 
ton's severe simplicity and awe-inspiring presence, but with 
more of warmth, variety, ornament, and grace. If the Doric 
in architecture be taken as the symbol of Washington's char- 
acter, Hamilton's belonged to the same grand style as devel- 
oped in the Corinthian — if less impressive, more winning. If 
we add Jay for the Ionic, we have a trio not to be matched ; 
in fact, not to be approached in our history, if, indeed-, in any 
other. — Of earth-born Titans, as terrible as great ; now angels, 
and now toads and serpents, there are every where enough. 
Of the serene and benign sons of the celestial gods how few at 
any time have walked upon the earth !" Hamilton was killed 
in 1804 ; and in 1807, Burr was accused of a conspiracy, whose 



206 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

object was to make an independent Empire beyond tbe Al- 
leghanies. He was arrested in 1807, and tried for treason be- 
fore Judge Marshall; but tbe evidence was not considered suf- 
ficient to condemn him. Much information concerning Burr's 
operations, can be found in the history of Kentucky, published 
in Lippincott's Cabinet Library, to which reference has already 
been made. Also, in Hildreth, Chapter XIX. 

The commerce of America, meanwhile, was greatly flourish- 
ing; for, its neutrality with respect to European wars, gave 
it the carrying trade of the world for the time. But it now 
began to suffer, England having declared the Continent from 
the Elbe to Brest in blockade; and Bonaparte, in retaliation, 
declaring all the British Islands so.; for American trading ves- 
sels were captured by both parties. Cause of war with Eng- 
land, also arose from the British ship Leopold's firing into the 
American frigate Chesapeake, because it refused to give up 
four men, said to be British deserters, but who were proved 
to be American citizens, who had been impressed by the Brit- 
ish. The claim of the British to a right of search into Amer- 
ican vessels, was thus brought up ; and Jefferson made a pro- 
clamation, that no British vessels should enter United States 
harbors, till reparation was made for past outrages, and the ob- 
noxious claim given up. The same year, the British issued 
the famous " Orders in Council," which prohibited all nations 
trading with France and her allies ; and Bonaparte retaliated, 
with his " Milan Decrees," forbidding trade with Great Bri- 
tain and her allies. Again American vessels were captured 
on both sides. In this emergency, Jefferson induced Con- 
gress to decree an embargo, which forbade any American ves- 
sels to go out, and recalled those that were abroad. As the 
American commerce was now ruined, Mr Jefferson, who was 
supposed to be the cause of the evil, became very unpopular 
with the commercial class; but as this very commercial dis- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 207 

tress seemed likely to make America turn to agricnlture and 
manufactures, he became all the more popular with another 
party in the country. 

Party politics ran so high, in Jefferson's as well as Adams' 
time, that even yet there is not an impartial estimate to be 
made of these men. They were remarkably different in tem- 
perament. Both were obstinate, and thought whatever oppos- 
ed their views was wicked and unprincipled. The obstinacy, 
of Adams, was that which belongs to a strong instinct govern- 
ing his thoughts. The obstinacy of Jefferson was the strength 
of theoretical imagination. His Letters, in five volumes, can 
be studied by those who would estimate him correctly. He 
was truly devoted to the idea of Human Liberty and equality, 
and not being a believer in Divine E,evelation, he exalted the 
prerogatives of human will, and trusted the deductions of 
the human understanding, as if it could compass absolute 
truth. Both these persons had their great merits, but their 
characteristic obstinacy was not more different from each 
other's, than from the firmness of Washington, which sprang 
from a pure reason, always in a devout attitude. 

LESSON SXVIIL— Jefferson. 

"Who gained the Presidential victory over Adams ? Who 
was Vice President, his first term ? What did Jefferson do 
about appointments ? With what good omens did his admin- 
tration begin ? What new State was admitted in 1802 ? 
How long had it been settled ? Where first ] What hostile 
act of Spain occurred the same year ? What violent proceed- 
ing was the consequence 1 What peaceful measure took its 
place and why ? Who has written the history of Louisiana ? 
What were the objections to the purchase of Louisiana ? Its 
advantages — what ? What was the Tripolitan difficulty in 



208 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1803 ? How did the U. S. answer the declaration of war ? 
What mishap did Preble have ? What was Decatur's ex- 
j)loit ? What did Mr. Eaton plan and accomplish ? How 
did the matter end ? What made Aaron Burr aspire to be 
Governor of New- York ? What was Hamilton's death ? 
What was his character ? Of what crime was Burr subse- 
quently accused '] What had given great impulse to Ameri- 
.can commerce since Jay's treaty ? How did it now suffer ? 
What special cau^-e of war with England arose ? What pro- 
clamation did Jefferson make about this and the right of 
search ? What new outrages induced the decree of the Em- 
bargo ? What effect had this on Jefferson's popularity ? 
What differences in the characters of Je*fferson, Adams, and 
Washington, were there ? 

Look at the Plate and observe how Jefferson's inauguration 
is represented in 1801, 5th subdivision ; Ohio's admission in 
1802, 2nd subdivision ; Jefferson's purchase of Louisiana in 
the 7th, and the Tripolitan difficulties in the 6th subdivision 
of 1803. Decatur's and Eaton's exploits in the 8th, and 
Hamilton's death in the 9th subdivision of 1804. Abolition 
of Foreign Slave trade in 6th, and in 8th of 1807, may be 
represented Jefferson's Embargo ; the same year as Burr's 
trial. 

Madison's Administration. 

James Madison, of Virginia, was elected in 1809, to succeed 
Thomas Jefferson as President ; and George Clinton of New 
York, was re-elected Vice President. 

The great event of Madison's administration, was the war 
with Great Britain, called *' the war of 1812." 

This was mainly occasioned by the battle between the 
Democrats and Federalists, with respect to the rival decrees 
of France and England. The merchants themselves had 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 209 

Leen only anxious to have the Embargo taken off, and to 
carry on their trade at all risks. And now, even if they con- 
formed to the British " orders in council," and paid the duty 
in England which was imposed on all neutral vessels trading 
with her enemies, they could still make their commerce lucra- 
tive. But the democrats, led by Clay and Calhoun, were 
furious at the idea of Americans paying duties to England 
in any case ; and hence they favored a non-intercourse law 
with Great Britain, while liberty was given to trade with 
France. The Federalists were ec[ually enraged with the 
thought of America's supporting the despotism of Bonaparte ; 
whose allies^very where had become his subjects. It was im- 
possible for those Avho had partaken in the excitements and 
struggles of the era of '76, to look upon events with a 
single and dry regard to the question of pecuniary interest ; 
and yet the pecuniary interests involved in the question, did 
unquestionably increase the vehemence of the debates in 
Congress. For the first three years of Madison's first term, 
there was constant political war upon foreign relations, and 
the debates of Congress at this time are carefully detailed by 
Mr. Hildreth, in the XXII. and XXIII. chapters of his His- 
tory of the United States. Once during this time, the British 
minister at Washington, Mr. Erskine, having declared that the 
British " Orders in Council " should not apply to the neutral 
American flag, intercourse with England was renewed ; but soon 
after, his declaration being unsupported by Mr. Canning the 
English Premier, a non-importation act was ordered by the 
American Government, to the great exasperation of the commer- 
cial class. Bonaparte, in 1810, incensed with the idea of a good 
understanding betvveen England and the United States, that 
had been suggested by the short revival of commerce during 
the time when the non-intercourse law was abrogated, ordered 
a seizure of American vessels that were in the French ports ; 



210 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

on tli-e other hand, as soon as the British thought the Americans 
and Bonaparte were coming to good terms, they again made 
prizes of the American shipping ; and Commodore Rogers, 
of the frigate President, being on the coast of Virginia, met 
the British " Little Belt,'' cruising to prevent their " Orders in 
Council" from being disobeyed ; and on challenging it and re- 
ceiving no answer, he fired into it, killing 11 men, and wound- 
ing 21. This was one earnest of the war of 1812. 

Another was the Indian War of 1811, which it was believed 
the British encouraged, if they did not instigate it. This war 
was occasioned by the Shawnee twin-brothers, Tecumseh and 
the Prophet, who undertook to confederate all the Indian 
tribes, for the purpose of opposing the extension of United 
States settlements towards the northwest, and in other direc- 
tions, Tecumseh was a man of great ability for war and pol- 
itics ; while the Prophet believed himself, and made others 
believe, that he had direct communications with the Great 
Spirit, which gave him immense power over the imagination 
of Indians. Tecumseh pretended to General Harrison, who 
was governor of the United States Territory, that he did not 
mean to make war on the United States ; but merely to pun- 
ish all Indians who sold lands to the whites without the con- 
currence of all the tribes ; and he refused to recognize the new 
boundary of the United States, made by the purchase of the 
northern part of Ohio and southern part of Michigan from the 
Delawares, (who had been drived into this region the century 
before.) Tecumseh said they had no right to sell without the 
consent of all the other tribes. Harrison replied that the Del- 
awares had a right to sell, for the Great Spirit had not united 
the Indians, but separated them, by '' putting different tongues 
into the heads of different tribes " — an answer and argument 
which threw Tecumseh into a violent rage, and all but brought 
on a battle between their respective attendants, at the mo- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 

ment, and on tlie spot. But Tecnmseh was not yet prepared 
to begin war, and the next day apologized for Ms vehemence. 
He immediately set out on a journey through, the South, to 
consummate a general union of the tribes in that region with 
those of the Northwest. Meanwhile, his brother was left to 
keep up and increase the excitement of the warriors of the 
Northwest, by means of incantations, and all the other arts of 
the "medicine man." A great number of Indians assembled 
for these rites, in a village on the Tippecanoe, a branch of 
the Wabash, and became so violent and outrageous in their 
occasional demonstrations, that Harrison thought it most pru- 
dent to go and disperse them ; and marching out of his own 
quarters, he encamped, with nearly a thousand men, near the 
Prophet's town. But the Indians, aware of his approach, 
were beforehand with him; and at about four o'clock, in 
the morning of November 8th, attacked him. It was not 
until after a tremendous battle of four hours, that he routed 
them with the bayonet. The next day he destroyed the vil- 
lage. Tecumseh was very much enraged with his brother for 
provoking this battle, whose issue disconcerted all his grand 
schemes. But he did what he could, by throwing himself on 
the side of the British, in the War of 1812, which was pro- 
claimed the 19th of April, just twenty-nine years after the 
proclamation of the peace of '83. 

The great plan was to invade Canada; but all the brilliancy 
of the war, during the first year, was naval. In October, the 
frigate Constitution, Captain Hull, gained a victory over the 
British frigate Guerriere, Captain Dacres — shooting away 
every mast and spar, and killing one-third of the crew — and 
all in the space of half an hour ! Soon after, the sloop Wasp, 
Captain Jones, in an action of three-quarters of an hour, cap- 
tured the brig Frolic, on the coast of North Carolina, which 
fought till it had only three officers and one man left unhurt, hav- 



212 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY- 

iiig lost eighty men, Yfliile the Wasp only lost ten men. (But 
both the victor and vanquished were on this same day taken 
by a British seventy-four.) One week afterward, Commodore 
Decatur, of the frigate United States, captured the frigate 
Macedonian, after a .battle of two hours, and a loss to the Bri- 
tish of an hundred men, killed and wounded. In December, 
Commodore Bainbridge, (then Captain only,) of the Constitu- 
tion, captured the frigate Java, off the coast of Brazil, losing 
only thirty-four men, while the Java had two hundred killed 
and wounded. This battle lasted three hours, and the Java, 
made a complete wreck, was burnt up. 

The American privateers also captured three hundred mer- 
chant vessels, mostly armed; and took three thousand prison- 
ers of war — while British privateers took very few American 
vessels. These splendid successes by sea were a needed con- 
solation for the losses on the Canada frontier, where the sur- 
render of General Hull and the failures of General Alexander 
Smythp, and others, were mortifying. To this day, the facts 
of the several cases, and the reasons for them, are subjects of 
dispute. Unquestionably, the preparations for the war were 
utterly inadequate. General Hull gave reasons for his sur- 
render that implicated the prudence, if not the good faith of 
the Government, in this respect ; and General Dearborn, who 
was his personal enemy, was president of the court-martial 
that condemned him. The reason given for the failures on 
Lake Erie and Ontario, was, that the militia, who were relied 
upon to cross the Lake, had scruples as to whether the United 
States Government could call militia out of their own State ; 
because militia is raised for defence, not aggression, according 
to the Constitution. The failure, generally, was the conse- 
quence of going to war when the country was divided in opin- 
ion and will.* But Colonel Wool's bravery at Queenstown, 
* See Hildreth, Chaps. XXIV. and XXV. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 

and Colonel Miller's rout of the British, aided by the Indians 
under Tecumseh, on the banks of the " Bloody Run," and 
General Brown's repulse of the British at Ogdensburg, were 
exceptions. And these deeds, together with the successes of 
the little navy, kindled the war spirit of the army, so that the 
year 1813 was more prosperous on land, and all that had been 
lost in 1812 was recovered. 

On January 10th, General Winchester recaptured French- 
town, about twenty-five miles from Detroit, it having been oc- 
cupied by the British and Indians. There he was besieged 
the next day, by the British, and some Indiaias who con- 
stituted the force of General Proctor ; and was induced to sur- 
render to the latter, on the promise of being protected by him 
from Indian massacre. But Proctor did not redeem his pledge, 
and a frightful massacre commenced, which was only arrested 
by the energy of Tecumseh, who was absent when it began, 
but who, returning at the moment, rushed, at the imminent 
risk of his life, into their midst, and stopped it, reproaching 
Proctor (when the latter told him he could not restrain savage 
Indians) with the taunt, " Go and put on petticoats — you are 
not fit to command men." Proctor afterwards besieged Gen- 
eral Harrison at Fort Meigs ; but on being deserted by the 
Indians, abandoned the seige., to renew it again in July — still 
without success. He then attempted the siege of Sandusky, 
which was successfully defended by the brave Major Oroghan, 
who had the smallest means. 

Meanwhile, Commodore Perry built a squadron of nine ves- 
sels on Lake Erie, which Commodore Barney opposed with a 
British squadron of six ; and in the battle which ensued, every 
vessel of the British surrendered — after which he transported 
General Harrison across the Lake in pursuit of ProQtor ; and 
he fought the British on the Thames, eighty miles above De- 
troit, and defeated them entirely, notwithstanding Proctor was 



214 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

aided by Tecumseh, witli his great Indian force, that foiiglit 
till Tecumseh himself fell. This victory terminated the war 
on the northwest. 

While General Harrison was gaining these victories in the 
Northwest, which recovered Detroit ; General Dearbon, with 
the army of the centre, was prosecuting the object of invad- 
ing Canada ; and having crossed Lake Ontario in Chauncey's 
fleet, captured York, Lieut. General Scott leading the van, and 
Pike making a brave attack ; in which, however, the latter 
lost his valuable life. The fleet, with the victorious troops, 
then proceeded to Fort Niagara, capturing on the way. Fort 
George, which caused the evacuation of all the British posts 
on the Niagara river, including Fort Erie ; and was an advan- 
tage to Oomniodore Perry, who was then building his squad- 
ron, at Presq[' Isle, now Erie. Hildreth says it was " the sole 
advantage, derived from Dearbon's expedition ;" for Fort 
George was destroyed and abandoned in the last part of the 
year by General M'Clure, in consequence of his losing his 
militia, whose time had expired, and w^ho would not re-enlist. 
On his retirement, he set fire to the neighboring village of New- 
ark (now called Niagara) and hastened to Blackrock and 
Buffalo, to defend the magazines there. The British revenged 
this; for after taking possession of Fort Niagara, which was 
left slenderly defended by a few regulars, they burnt Youngs- 
town, Lewistown, Tuscaroora, and Manchester (now called 
Niagara-falls-village), and even pursued M'Clure to Blackrock 
and Buffalo, which they burned ; and, in spite of 2000 militia, 
which M'Clure hastily assembled, and had no time to disci- 
pline, they destroyed a great quantity of provisions, and some 
of Perry's squadron. 

But in the South, General Jackson was opposing the Creek 
Indians, with more success. Tecumseh had not failed to ex- 
cite a war party there, although the older chiefs, and a party 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 215 

of the nation, were strongly in favor of peace. The young 
Creeks began this war, by the surprise of Fort Minns in 
Alabama, and made a great massacre. With an army of 
volunteers from Tennessee, Jackson fought five great battles 
on the branches of the Mobile, between November 3rd, 1813, 
and the April of 1814, at Tallushatchee, Talladega, Autosee, 
Emucfau, and Tohopeka ; at all of which he was victorious. 
At Tahopeka the Indians fortified themselves Avith their wives 
and children, and Generals Coffee and Jackson enclosed them. 
They fought till nearly all were killed, though they were 
1000 warriors. It was the deathblow of the Creeks. 

To these successes, and the recovery of Detroit, are to be 
added the naval victories of the year 1813. The American 
Privateers captured British vessels all over the Atlantic, In- 
dian, and Pacific oceans. Also, in March, Captain Lawrence 
of the Hornet, disabled the British brig Peacock, in a conflict 
of 15 minutes, so that it sank before all the prisoners could 
be removed, and even carried down three of the Hornet's 
men who had boarded her. Being promoted to the frigate 
Chesapeake, three months after, Lawrence went out of Boston 
Harbor with a new and undisciplined crew, and engaged with 
the British ship Shannon, which, with the Tenedos, was cruis- 
ing off the shores of New England. The action was visible 
from Boston, and the houses along the coast ; and never was 
there a braver on the part of the American Commander, but he 
was mortally wounded in the first of it, and carried below, 
crying out " Don't give up the Ship;" which, repeated many 
times, in the delirium of the fever v/hich ensued, has become 
the motto of the American navy. His Lieutenant, Ludlow, 
was also mortally wounded, and the British boarded the frig- 
ate, and carried it into Halifax, where both these officers 
were buried with military honors, by the enemy ; a ceremony 
repeated in still more splendid style in Salem, Massachusetts, 



216 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Orownlnshield, a noted privateersman, having gone to Halifax 
witli a flag of truce, and obtained the consecrated bodies. 
The fight between the Chesapeake and Shannon, had only 
lasted 15 minutes ; but the Shannon lost 23 killed, and 56 
wounded, half as great a loss as that of the Chesapeake itself. 
So that this defeat, under all the circumstances, operated on 
the American imagination very nearly like a victory. 

Meanwhile Porter, of the Essex, cruising on the Pacific 
ocean, captured twelve British whalers which were armed and 
provided with letters-of-marque, making them formidable pri- 
vateers ; and Allen, of the sloop Argus, took twenty-one mer- 
chant vessels in the British Channel, but lost his own subse- 
quently, being mortally wounded, in a severe engagement 
with the Pelican, which was also a sloop of war, but larger 
and stronger than the Argus. Captain Burroughs, of the 
Enterprise, also captured the British brig Boxer, of fourteen 
guns, ofi" the coast of Maine, but in the warm action of forty 
minutes both Commanders fell, and were buried with equal 
military honors in Portland. 

The British were surprised and confounded at meeting with 
all these losses on the sea. But the capture of the Chesapeake, 
greatly encouraged them, and they now made an effort, 
and blockaded the Constellation, United States, Macedonian, 
and Hornet, in the American ports, while the Constitution was 
laid up for repairs. There were twenty British ships in the 
Chesapeake, and a descent had been made, June 25th, on 
Hampton, a village on James river, Virginia, which was plun- 
dered, with shocking barbarities ; and Norfolk, and even Wash- 
ington was threatened, to the immense terror of the peaceful 
inhabitants. Mr. Hildreth says that Mrs. Gaston, wife of the 
M. C. from North Carolina, died in convulsions of fright, while 
this^fleet lay off the coast. 

The first thing accomplished in 1814, was the end of the 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 217 

Creek war by General Jackson, wko, not without some severe 
losses, succeeded at last in utterly breaking up the Confedera- 
tion of Tecumseb, who bad fallen in the battle of the Thames 
a year before. 

The Northern army, in the course of the summer, made 
another attempt at invading Canada, which had a brilliant 
success. Generals Scott and E-ipley took Fort Erie, in the 
end of July ; General Brown gained the battle of Chippewa 
two days after; and, on the 25th, General Scott, Major Jesup, 
and Colonel Miller gained the great battle of Lundy's Lane — 
one of the most hard fought of the war. Each of the armies 
lost between eight and nine hundred men, the British having 
begun with five thousand, and the Americans with about two- 
thirds of that number. Generals Scott and Brown were both 
wounded in this battle, and the Americans afterward retired 
to Fort Erie, from which the British were repulsed, by Gen- 
eral Gaines, on the 4th of August, with a loss to them of a 
thousand men. The Americans afterward destroyed Fort 
Erie, and went to Buffalo and Black rock to winter. In judg- 
ing of the war on the Canada frontier, whether its early fail- 
ures or later successes, we should take into account, that at 
that time, while the British border was thickly settled, on 
the American side of the river and lakes, it was almost a wil- 
derness still, and exceedingly unhealthy. 

But we must return to the Atlantic coast, where the British 
Admiral Cochrane, August 18th, was entering Chesapeake 
Bay, having arrived with a new and large British fleet from 
Bermuda, with four thousand troops of Lord Wellington's late 
peninsular army, under General Ross. Cockburn's blockad- 
ing squadron joined this fleet, adding to Eoss's force a thou- 
sand marines, and a hundred armed and disciplined negro fugi- 
tives, from the Virginia and Maryland plantations. Some of 
the frigates entered the Potomac, biit most of the fleet ascend- 
10 



2.18 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

ed to Benedict, fiftj miles below Washington, and landed 
without opposition, the Marylanders being in greater fear of 
negro insurrection than of the British ; for the slaves in 
this region exceeded the whites in number, and were friendly 
to the enemy. Uoss then advanced on land three days, with- 
out inteiTuption, for the militia of the several States could not 
be got together at so short notice. General Winder had com- 
mand of the military district, and at Bladensburgh there was 
a battle, in which the British remained masters of the field, 
and from thence they advanced to Washington, which they 
found abandoned, and took possession of it, setting on fire all 
the public buildings, except the one containing the post-office 
and the patent office. Supposing that the Americans were 
mustering on Georgetown Heights, Eoss then retired to Bene- 
dict, which he reached, without interruption, on the 29th — the 
same day that the British frigates anchored before Alexan- 
dria. That city purchased immunity from fire and pillage, by 
surrendering its shipping and merchandise. A fortnight after, 
General E,oss approached Baltimore, which was defended by 
ten thousand militia, under General Striker. But he was 
killed at the very beginning of the encounter, by an advanced 
corps, at North Point, which the British succeeded afterward 
to drive off their ground, and the next day they advanced on 
Baltimore, the fleet cannonading Fort M'Henry, which de 
fended the entrance of the harbor, two miles below the city. 
But it could not get near enough to do much harm to the fort, 
and the shallowness of the water of the harbor of Baltimore 
prevented a landing in the city, so that the next night, the 
British retired down the Chesapeake, whose waters were now 
abandoned. 

Meanwhile, on the very day that E-oss was killed, a great 
battle had taken place at Plattsburgh, on Lake Champ lain. 
The triumph of the allied armies in Europe over Bonaparte, had 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 219 

enabled the army of tlie north, as well as the coast fleet, to be 
reinforced. The Captain General of Canada, Sir George Pre- 
vost, therefore, on September 1st, marched on Plattsburg, with 
twelve thousand veteran troops. It was defended by General 
Macomb, with three thousand men, to whom, at his call, were 
added, within a week, three thousand militia, from New 
York and Vermont ; and he strongly intrenched himself be- 
hind the rocky, unfordable Saranac. The British waited 
ten days for their squadron, which carried ninety-five guns, 
and one thousand seamen, and was commanded by Captain 
Downie, who began a battle, on the 11th, with Commodore 
Macdonough, who was guarding the harbor of Plattsburgh 
with a squadron carrying eighty-six guns, and eight hundred 
and fifty men. This naval battle lasted two hours and a quar- 
ter, when Downie struck his flags. The British land army 
had been erecting batteries in the ten days, and at the very 
time of the American victory on the lake, was defeated by 
General Macomb on the shore ; and after fighting more or less 
all day, it retreated in the evening, leaving behind the sick 
and wounded, and their luggage. These brilliant victories, 
together with a successful sortie of General Brown's, from 
Fort Erie, upon Fort Niagara, breaking up an attempt of the 
British to fortify the latter, were some consolation for the 
losses in the Chesapeake Bay, and contributed a little to allay 
the panic produced in all the seaports of the coast, by the 
threats of Admiral Cockburne, which had even roused the 
Federal party to vigorous m.easures of defence. 

But the closing battles of the war were fought in the South, 
General Jackson, at this time (September, 1814) believing 
that the Spanish authorities of Florida were affording aid to 
the British, by giving succor to the refugee Redsticks, and allow- 
ing a British vessel to land arms and agents at Apalachicola, 
attacked Pensacola, where the British colonel, Nichols, had 



220 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

landed a small troop, and begun to draw round liim the refugee 
Creeks. Before December. Jackson had compelled the British 
evacuation of Florida ; but knowing that they were concen- 
trating upon Louisiana, he went to New Orleans, which was 
utterly undefended, sending on word before, that the governor, 
Claiborne, should order all the militia of Louisiana for instant 
service, and issuing from Mobile an affectionate address to 
"the noble-hearted, generous, free men of color," whom he 
called on to enroll themselves in a distinct corps, and cooperate 
in the defence ; to which they nobly and generously responded. 
He arrived December 1st, and, intent on augmenting his feeble 
defences by all means, accepted the aid of a party of French 
buccaneers from Barataria, who were under sentence of con- 
demnation for piracy, and aid afforded to the British, but who 
now offered their services to Jackson, on promise of pardon ; 
and he even released and embodied the convicts of the State 
prison. On December 12th, he heard that the British fleet 
had anchored off the entrance of Lake Borgue, sixty miles 
from New Orleans, and, three days after, that it had captured 
a small American flotilla there, though not without a hard 
fight ; also that the Balize, at the entrance of the river, was 
in their hands. At this important crisis, Greneral Coffee, with 
a detachment of regulars, and the Tennessee and Kentucky 
volunteers, whom Jackson had at first called to his aid, all ar- 
rived; and he found himself at the head of 5,000 men; but 
they were without arms, and otherwise unprovided; and, to 
compel assistance from the Louisiana Legislature, and prevent 
treachery, by terror, he laid the city under martial law, on 
his own responsibility. On the 22d, the British army had 
advanced within nine miles of New Orleans, and succeeded in 
repulsing the Americans who attacked them ; and, on the 28th, 
they cannonaded General Jackson's troops, which were en- 
trenched four miles below the city, but the cannonade made 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 221 

little impression. It was not till the 8tli of January, that 
General Packenham, at the head of 12,000 British veterans, 
advanced on 6,000 Americans, who awaited their approach 
behind a fort made of cotton bales, which baffled, by deaden- 
ing, the heavy cannonade of a battery that he had erected 
during the previous night, to cover his approach. All was 
silence, till he had come within rifle-shot, when a murderous 
fire, killing the General, and wounding the high officers next 
in command, struck down also the whole front rank, and threw 
the British army into confusion. Lambert, who 'succeeded 
Packenham in the command, after a struggle of an hour, and 
two unsuccessfal advances, withdrew, calling off Thompson, 
who had gained an excellent post on the opposite side of the 
river, and abandoning the redoubt which had been taken by 
another column of the British army. He fell back to the 
landing place on Lake Borgue, and Jackson did not pursue 
him. Seven hundred British were left dead, and one thousand 
lay wounded on the battle-field of New Orleans ; while the 
Americans had only six men killed, and seven wounded. In 
the whole campaign the American loss had not come up to 
three hundred and fifty men. 

After this great victory, which gave to General Jackson 
the title of " Hero of New Orleans," the British reembarked 
their army, and left the waters of the Mississippi for ever. 

But a treaty of peace had already been signed at Ghent, a 
fortnight before, Dec. 24th, 1814, the news of which did not 
arrive in America till the 3d of February. Before it was 
known to the navy out upon service, the Constitution had 
captured the Cyane and Levant, and the Hornet had taken 
the Penguin, in the waters between Africa and South America. 

Peace was hailed with rejoicings all over the land, and by 
all parties. It is, however, a curious fact, that the treaty did 
not mention the encroachments on the American commerce. 



A 



222 CHEONOLOGIOAL HISTORY 

or the claim to the right of search, which were the immediate 
occasion of the contest. The truth is, the real cause of the 
war was the uneasy desire of both nations, to settle in the 
minds of each other the question of their relative strength. 
America had vindicated her prowess, and thereafter the two 
chief branches of the Anglo-Saxon race could go on in mutual 
respect of each other's might, and more disposed than ever 
rival nations were before, to ask if, as means of adjusting their 
mutual rights, love will not do as well as war. 

The account we have given is general ; but the military 
history may be studied in detail, with the accompanying po- 
litical history, which is full of lessons for the statesman, in 
Hildreth's chapters XXV. to XXX. inclusive ; and by-and-by, 
doubtless, in Bancroft's forthcoming volumes. It is an im- 
portant era of the United States history. Hildreth says : 
" Whatever side-motiveS' — hope of plunder by privateering, 
hope of military distinction, hope of enrichment by gov- 
ernment contracts, hope of an interior market for agricul- 
tural produce, hope of protection to domestic manufactures, 
hope of riding into office on the crest of a wave of blood, 
hatred of England and partiality for France * * * might 
have tended to precipitate the war — still it was a war for 
the right of personal freedom from the domineering inso- 
lence of British press gangs ; an idea congenial to every manly 
soul, and giving to the contest a strong hold on the hearts of 
the masses ; in fact, a just title to the character of a demo- 
cratic war, in the very best sense of that ambiguous epithet 
* * * a necessary and noble struggle against insolence and 
oppression ; not the less noble because rashly undertaken on 
behalf of the poor, the helpless, and the stranger; and per- 
haps, like other great efforts on the side of humanity, not the 
less effectual, though, at the moment, it seemed to fail wholly 
in its object." 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 223 

One striking effect of the war "w'as to bring to an end the 
strife between the Federalists and Democrats. Doubtless tlie 
former had been honest in their belief that the war was a sup- 
port of Bonaparte's despotism against Great Britain, which 
seemed to them the sole remaining bulwark in Europe of na- 
tional independence. But the latter were no less honest in 
viewing this same Great Britain as a domineering and pirati- 
cal monopolist and tyrant of the ocean. As such, the Ameri- 
can navy had put it down. If Bonaparte was overthrown, 
and no longer threatening with his imperial despotism the 
whole world, yet the English government, by entering the 
Holy Alliance (misnamed !), was no longer the champion of 
the nationalities of the continent, but part of the mountain of 
old-fashioned despotism that was crushing them ; and this pre- 
sently began to appear. 

But this attitude of the English government could not be, 
as yet, appreciated by either party, any more than by the 
noble EngKsh people themselves.* 

Hardly was peace arranged, when a squadron was fitted out 
against the Barbary States, under Captain Decatur. It will 
be remembered that the negotiations of Mr. Lear, consul of 
Algiers, had, in a very summary way, closed up the v/ar of 
Tripoli, in 1805, and with much more compromise with its 
piratical Bashaw, than Mr. Eaton, consul of Tunis, had pro- 
posed. Eaton's bold policy had aimed at crushing this nest 
of pirates, by a display of fearlessness and force, instead of 
buying off their enmity with annual tribute ; as well as to se- 
cure the real friendship of Hamet, by effectual assistance to 
him in recovering his rights from his usurping brother. In 

''■■ It does not come into the scope of such a work as this to show that 
the English government has an interest diverse from that of the people ; 
■because, by reason of its national debt, it is, to use the words of another, 
" running a race with ruin. ' ' 



224 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1812, when the Dey of Algiers, taking advantage of the fact 
that the American navy was occupied in war with England, 
extorted from Mr. Lear a large sum of money, as the price of 
his own safety, and at the same time captured American ves- 
sels and reduced their crews to slavery, Mr. Eaton's views 
were justified. Nothing could be done about it till 1815, 
when Commodore Decatur, in the course of one month, cap- 
tured two Algerine vessels, and dictated to the Bashaws of 
Tunis and Tripoli and the Dey of Algiers, such a treaty of 
peace as delivered the United States, forever after, from the 
necessity of paying tribute to them, and secured to American 
shipping in the Mediterranean, immunity from piracy. 

During Mr. Madison's administration, the prevalence of 
war gave but little opportunity for the development of inter- 
nal welfare. In 1816, however, Indiana was admitted into the 
Union; and the same year a new United States Bank was 
chartered for twenty years, with a capital of thirty-five millions 
of dollars. The mother bank was organized at Philadelphia, 
and branches at Boston, New York, Baltimore, Portsmouth, 
Providence, Middletown, Ot., Washington, Richmond, Nor- 
folk, Savannah, New Orleans, Lexington, Cincinnati, Chili- 
cothe, Louisville, Pittsburg, Fayetteville, and Augusta. This 
bank, whose bills passed current, without discount, all over 
the Union, afforded great facilities for doing business, which 
were greatly needed at the time, for peace had not procured 
immediate freedom from pecuniary embarassment. Indeed, 
the throwing open of the ports to foreign vessels inundated 
the country with goods, which embarrassed the feeble manufac- 
turing establishments that had grown up during the war. 
These pecuniary embarrassments, however, in their turn, ope- 
rated to throw the people upon the new lands of the West, 
and foreign emigration increased, as the old despotism shut 
down again over Europe, under the auspices of the unholy al- 
liance. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 225 



LESSON XXIX.— Madison. 

What is the great feature of Madison's administration ? 
What was done about the Embargo ? What did Bonaparte 
do with respect to the American shipping in 1810 ? How did 
the British act, on finding the Americans and Bonaparte at 
peace? What was the "affair of ih^ Little Belt?'' What 
other earnest of war was there in 1811 ? What was Tecum- 
seh's plan ? Where was he when the war broke out ? What 
occasioned the battle of Tippecanoe 1 What can you tell 
about it ? How did Tecumseh take this event ? When was 
war with Great Britain formally declared ? Was it more bril- 
liant on land or sea the first year ? What was the victory 
gained by Captain (afterwards Commodore) Hull ? What 
victory was gained by Captain Jones ? and what reverse fol- 
lowed the same day ? What victory by Commodore Deca- 
tur ? What by Commodore Bainbridge? What did the Ame- 
rican privateers accomplish ? What mortifying losses did the 
Americans have on the northern frontier, during the year 
1812? Where had Colonels Wool and Miller done bravely ? 
Were the Americans more prosperous in this quarter the next 
year ? What circumstances do you remember about General 
Winchester's victory and defeat at Frenchtown ? What other 
places did Proctor besiege, and with what success ? What 
had Croghan done ? Meanwhile, what had Commodore Perry 
done on Lake Erie 1 What great victory did Harrison gain 
soon after, and how was it ? How had the Indian war in the 
South begun ? What had General Jackson done ? Had the 
army in the centre, under General Dearborn, done anything, 
while Harrison in the Northwest, and Jackson in the South, 
were subduing the Indians and British ? What did Scott and 
Pike do? What did General M'Clure do? How did the 
10=^ • 



226 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

British revenge this? What victory and loss did Captain 
Lawrence have upon the ocean meanwhile ? What tribute of 
respect was paid to Lawrence and his Lieutenant, Ludlow, bj 
both the enemies and friends ? What did Porter, of the Es- 
sex, do ? What victories and loss did Allen, of the Argus, 
have 1 What Captain Burroughs, of the Enterprise ? Were 
the American privateers still successful ? What mischief did 
the British do upon the Atlantic coast, in 1813 ? What do 
you remember of the battle of Bladensburgh ? AVho took the 
City of Washington, and what did he do to it ? How did Al- 
exandria save itself from the like ? Where did General Hoss 
go afterwards, and with what success? What was the last 
thing the British did before leaving the Chesapeake ? What 
did the northern army do in 1814 ? What Generals took Fort 
Erie, July 3d ? What great battle did General Brown gain 
two days after ? What do you remember about the battle of 
Lundy's Lane 1 What loss did the British meet with on the 
4th of August ? Did the Americans remain in Fort Erie ? 
What battle was there on Lake Champlain in September ? 
Tell all you know about it ? What great land battle was 
there the same day ? What do you remember of that ? Where 
were the closing battles of the war ? What had General 
Jackson done in Florida, in 1814 ? Why did he go to New 
Orleans in IXecember, and what did he do there ? What bat- 
tle occurred on the 10th of December ? Where was another 
battle on the 22d ? What was done on the 28th ? Describe 
the battle of New Orleans, and its consequences. When was 
the treaty of peace signed ? When did the news reach Ame- 
rica ? How was it received ? What were the last American 
victories at sea ? What had been the real cause of the war ? 
What was the occasion of the war with Algiers ? What did 
Commodore Decatur do, and with what effect ? What new 
States were added to the Union during Mr. Madison's admin- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 227 

istration ? AVliat famous bank was chartered, and for how 
long ? What first caused the establishment of manufactures 
in the United States ? Did the peace bring immediate pecu- 
niary relief to the country ? What emigration did this cause 
within the United States ? What immigration took place, and 
by what was it caused ? 

Look on the Plate, and see how Madison's inauguration in 
1809 is represented in 9th subdivision ; Tecumseh's confeder- 
ation in 6th, and battle of Tippecanoe, in 1st of 1811 ; Ame- 
rican victories of War of 1812, orange — purple in 1st ; British 
loss in 3d ; surrender of Detroit in 6th, and admission of Lou- 
isiana State in 2nd subdivision ; American victories of 1813 in 
1st; British losses in 3d; Tecumseh's death in 9th; victories 
of the Americans by large upper triangle ; treaty of peace by 
small triangles in 6th of 1814 ; victory of New Orleans, 1st, 
orange and purple ; Decatur's exploit in 8th, and his treaty 
with Barbary in 6th of 1815; Indiana's admission in 2nd, and 
charter of second United States Bank in 6th of 1816. 



Monroe's Administration. 

James Monroe was the successor of Madison, in the Presi- 
dential office. He came in, March 4, 1817. This season was 
called '' the Era of Good Feeling," as the close of the war 
had taken away from the Federal party their last great 
ground of opposition to the Democrats, who were certainly 
somewhat justified in the result. The change of hands of the 
administration had also shown to the Democrats, that the 
main principles of the Federalists had been correct. It is 
quite instructive to read the history of the Federal adminis- 
tration, published by Eobert Gr, Harper of Baltimore, in 
Walsh's United States Gazette of 1824 ; for we shall observe that 
all the main measures of the Federalists, were adopted by the 



228 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Democrats, when they came into power. Tlie administration 
party must necessarily be a Federal party. Besides ; Mon- 
roe personally subscribed to the doctrine of the old Federal- 
ists, that government ought to be in the hands of the intelli- 
gent and moral ; while the old Republican doctrine was, that 
the right to govern is the normal state of man, and when en- 
joyed universally, v/ill develop intelligence and morality in 
all. Time and experience must decide the question, as to 
which is the- most reliable principle in politics ; and teach us 
how at once to avoid the Scyllaof absolute Conservatism, and 
the Charybdis of Premature E-eformation. 

The war of the Seminoles grew directly out of the late 
war with Great Britain. For certain British adventurers, 
even after the ratification of peace, endeavored to keep up 
their influence over the Indians for their own private behoof ; 
and this was connived at by the Spaniards. General Gaines 
demanded of the Indians on the south bank of the Flint river, 
who were said by the Georgia backwoodsmen to have made 
depredations upon them, and committed murders, — to deliver 
up the mru'derers. The Indians refused to do this, saying 
that the Georgians were the aggressors ; on which, the Indian 
village of Fowltown was attacked, under a general order from 
the war department to expel the Indians from the lately ceded 
Creek district. This was avenged, Nov. 17, 1817, by the 
Seminoles, who waylaid a boat, that was ascending the Apa- 
lachicola river, with supplies for Fort Scott, and out of forty 
men and a number of women and children, all except six men 
and one woman were killed. When news of this massacre 
arrived at Washington, Jackson was ordered to take the field 
in person, and authorized to call additional militia from Ten- 
nessee. The war v/as short. Little effectual resistance was 
made by the Indians. Their villages were burnt, and stores 
of corn and cattle taken. Hillisihajo and Hornet Henrico, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 229 

two Indian chiefs, one of whom was known to have been at 
the massacre on the Apalachicola, were captured by General 
Gibson, and immediately hanged by the order of General 
Jackson, who then marched against the town of Suwannee, 
and burned it, most of the inhabitants having fled. On the sus- 
picion that the Spanish fort of St. Marks had afforded comfort 
and aid to the insurgent Indians, he also took possession of 
that ; and in it he found a British subject, Arbuthnot, believed 
to have been especially active in exciting the Indians to hos- 
tility, and who was known to have warned the inhabitants of 
Suwannee to fly. This man, together with Ambrister, ano- 
ther British subject, who had been connected with Arbuthnot 
in trade, and had helped the Indians and negroes to defend 
Suwannee, where he was taken prisoner, was brought before 
a court martial, where both were convicted, and condemned 
to be hanged ; but Ambrister's sentence was afterward changed, 
and he was sentenced to be whipped, and put to hard labor 
with a ball and chain. The principal crime charged, was their 
aiding the Indians, and instigating them to hostilities. Jack- 
son, on the very day of the verdict, had them hotli hanged, on 
his own responsibility. He then captured Pensacola; and 
Gaines bombarded St. Augustine, which Jackson would also 
have taken possession of, but for the countermand of the war 
department, which was in negotiation with Spain for the ces- 
sion of Florida — a measure concluded on in the course of 
of 1819 and 1820, Meanwhile, four new States were ad- 
mitted to the Union : Mississippi in 1817 ; Illinois in 1818 ; 
Alabama in 1819, and Maine in 1820, the latter having been 
separated from Massachusetts, of which State it had been a 
province since 1652. 

Jackson's arbitrary conduct in the Seminole war, had not 
escaped censure, and motions were made in Congress to give 



230 • CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

lilm a public admonition, but his partizans were many, from 
various causes, and the President also approved his course. 

In 1820-21, sprung up the great controversy upon slavery 
extension, which resulted in the " Missouri Compromise," an 
act by which Missouri was admitted as a slaveholding State, 
with the proviso that no more slave States should be made, 
out of the Territory north of Arkansas, Propositions were 
made in Congress, before it became a State, to exclude slav- 
ery from all Territory west of the Mississippi, and provide for 
its extinction in Arkansas and Missouri, which were already 
settled by slaveholders, with their property ; for it was then 
admitted, on all hands, that Congress had constitutional right 
to impose conditions on States applying for admission. It 
had required Louisiana, w4ien it was admitted, to adopt the 
English language. 

The controversy showed that pro-slavery had become a 
much more general sentiment in the slave-holding States, than 
it was at the time the subject was debated in the Federal Con- 
vention ; and that the jSTorthern States had developed a more 
strong and clear anti-slavery principle. Still, the compromise 
could not have been effected without the votes of sixteen 
Northern members of Congress, characterized, therefor, by 
John Eandolph, as " Doughfaces." The growth of slavery is 
a long and important chapter in the history of the United 
States, which cannot be treated here. It can be studied first 
in the "Madison Papers," II. and III. volumes, where are re- 
ported all the speeches made at the time of the Union, when 
compromises of the Constitution were first determined on ; and 
follov^ed up in Hildreth's History of the United States, who 
very faithfully reports every thing said and done by both par- 
ties in Congress, touching the subject then, and since. He 
quotes from John Quincy Adams' diary one striking para- 



OP THE UNITED STATES. 281 

graph, written in 1821, in wlncli he says: "The impression 
produced on my mind by the progress of the discussion is, that 
the bargain between freedom and slavery, contained in the 
constitution of the United States, is morally and politically 
vicious, inconsistent with principles upon which alone our re- 
volution can be justified; cruel and oppressive, by riveting 
the chains of slavery, in pledging the faith of freedom to main- 
tain and perpetuate the tyranny of the master ; and grossly 
unequal and impolitic, by admitting that slaves are at once 
enemies to be kept in subjection, property to be secured, and 
restored to their owners, and persons not to be represented 
themselves, but for whom their masters are privileged with 
nearly a double share of representation. The consequence 
has been, that this slave representation has governed the 
Union. Benjamin, portioned above his brethren, has ravined 
as a wolf; in the morning he has devoured the prey, and at 
night he has divided the spoil. 

One thing is very noticeable in the debates upon the Mis- 
souri Compromise question, and that is, the openness with 
which the members from the Slave States threatened to with- 
draw from the Union, if the slavery interest was meddled with 
by the Northern States ; while the members of a New Eng- 
land Convention, that assembled at Hartford, during the War 
of 1812, to consider whether their interests were sufficiently 
protected by the General Government, were ever after visited 
with obloquy, and even charged as treasonable, although they 
did not make any such threat. Their real crime, perhaps, was, 
their having proposed the abolition of slave representation. 

Two things more are to be noticed in James Monroe's term 
of administration, both of which occurred in 1824; the one, 
the laying of the great Protective Tariff bill, of which more 
will be said in the history of Jackson's administration ; the 
other, the visit of Lafayette to this country, after forty years' 



282 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

interval ; and his journey of 5000 miles througliout its whole 
extent. This journey, which took nearly a year, was a con- 
tinued triumphal progress. Public authorities and private so- 
cieties throughout the States, received him with every demon- 
stration of enthusiasm and delight ; and the year of. his visit 
was a spontaneous national jubilee, such as the world has 
never witnessed the like. It gave rise to a multitude of re- 
markable orations, beginning with the Phi Beta oration of 
Edward Everett, at Cambridge, and ending with the address 
of Webster, on Bunker Hill, where Lafayette laid the corner- 
stone of the great Monument. 

Those who believe that out of the heart of a nation, as well 
as of an individual, are the issues of its life, consider an event 
like this of great moment. The new generation which had 
come upon the stage, since the death of Washington, a quar- 
ter of a century before, had not had such an appeal to its pat- 
riotic sentiments; and the efiusion of feeling occasioned, was 
an opportunity for a general baptism into the spirit of Liberty.* 

LESSON XXX.— MoNKOE. 

Why was Monroe's term called the " Era of good feeling V 
Of v/hat party must the administration always be ? What 
was the difference between the Federalist and Democratic 
view of the nature of liberty 1 What was the cause of the 
Seminole war of 1817 ? What, the immediate occasion of the 
outbreak ? Who was made United States commander 1 Give 
an account of the war ? What did General Gibson do ? What 
did Jackson do with respect to the captured chiefs 1 Why 
did he attack St. Marc's ? What can you tell of the conduct 

" A Life of Lafayette, written at this time, by Mrs. John Farrar, of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, ought to be always kept in print for the libra- 
ries of children. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 233 

and fate of Ambrister and Arbnthnot ? What also was done 
in Florida ? When did Spain cede Florida ? What States 
were added in 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820 ? Was Jackson's 
arbitrary conduct in tbe war approved ? When was Missouri 
added ? What was the " Missouri Compromise" respecting 
slavery ? Had Congress exercised the right to impose con- 
ditions on States asking for admission ? What changes of 
sentiment concerning slavery did the controversy prove to have 
taken place, since the time of the Federal Convention 1 What 
opinion did John Quincy Adams record in his diary ? When 
was the great Protective Tariff bill passed ? When did La- 
fayette make his visit ? What was the effect of it ? 

Look at the plate, and observe in 1817, that Monroe's inau- 
guration is represented in the fifth subdivision; the Seminole 
war in the first, and that in the second, of 1817, 1818, 1819, 
1820, and 1821, are represented the accession of new States. 
In the sixth of 1820, the cession of Florida by Spain ; in the 
sixth of 1821, the ''Missouri Compromise;" in the sixth of 
1824, great Protective Tariff; and in the eighth, Lafayette's 
visit. 

John Quincy Adams. 

When Mr. Mom-oe's administration closed, John Quincy 
Adams was chosen his successor, after an election contested 
with still more excitement than that one which had defeated 
his father's second term. There were four candidates, Adams, 
Crawford, Jackson, and Clay. As the people failed to elect, 
the House of Eepresentatives decided in favor of Mr. Adams 
as President, and Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina, as Vice 
President. Mr. Clay gracefully withdrawing his name, to en- 
sure this result. There were difficulties between the State of 
Georgia and the Creek Indians, that came to a head during 
Mr. Adam's administration. 



234 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Witli respect to the Indians, the United States General 
Government had always maintained a protective relation, as 
may be seen by the Treaties which had been made with them, 
published in 1832, in a volume, by Thompson and Howard of 
Washington, D. 0., and even up to this time there had been 
no lands taken from the Indians by its authority, without a 
handsome indemnity in money. But the Southern States 
very little regarded the claims of Justice ; and were for driv- 
ing these people, willing or unwilling, west into Arkansas. 
Monroe, in his message of 1824, speaks of the severity and 
injustice with which-most of the State governments treated 
the Indians within their borders, and the perplexity this ac- 
casioned to. the Federal Government; and intimates, that in 
order to satisfy the demands of the State governments, the 
Indians had been pressed by the Federal Government, rather 
unreasonably, to remove. But in 1825, when some new trea- 
ties were made with the Indians of the Northwest territory, 
and even west of the Mississippi, where lands had been pur- 
chased, a pretended treaty with a few Creeks was made by 
the State of Georgia, at Indian Springs, engaging the tribe to 
remove, to which a large part of the Creek Nation was not 
accessory, but which was ratified by the United States Gov- 
ernment without its knowing that the treaty was so partial. 
The Georgians, unheeding the refusal of the Creeks to be 
bound by this treaty, concerning which they were not gener- 
ally consulted, proceeded to cause surveys to be made of the 
lands, declaring that they had a right to these lands, in virtue of 
an agreement made by the United States, in 1802, to ex- 
tinguish the Indian claim, and have the Indians removed, " as 
soon as it could be done peaceably." The United States did 
what it could, by new grants of money ; and a portion of the 
Creeks removed to Arkansas; but the rest appealed to "their 
great Father at Washington," to be protected in the lands 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 235 

already guaranteed to them. Adams, in consequence, threat- 
ened to use the military force of the United States against 
Georgia, not only as bound to protect the Indians by the law 
of 1802, but, as he said, " by an obligation higher than that of 
any human authority." The thing nearly came to a war in 
1826, and in 1828, the Legislature of Georgia not only en- 
acted that the laws of Georgia were to take effect over the 
Indian country, but that their own laws were to be null, and 
that no Indian nor descendant of an Indian, residing within 
the Creek or Cherokee nation, should be deemed a competent 
witness, or a party to any suit, in any Court created by the 
Constitution or laws of the State, to which a white man may 
be a party. 

At this time the number of Indians, within the bounds of 
the several States, was estimated to be 303,000. In his an- 
nual messagp of 1828, Adams stated the extreme difficulty of 
adjusting the conflicting Indian and State claims, especially 
in those cases where their civilization and Christianity had 
enabled them to form independent communities ; for they were 
rivals for sovereignty within the territory of the members of 
the Union, and would not, in many instances, be bought off 
with money. On the one hand the Federal Government v/as 
bound to protect the Indians in their unalienated sovereignty, 
and on the other, not to contravene the sovereign will of the 
States. It is strange that it did not occur to him, that, the 
true course for the Indians to pursue, was to set themselves 
up as an Independent State, and ask to be admitted into 
the Union, receiving for a season a territorial govern- 
ment, by way of preparation for exercising State right-s. 
There is no reason in nature why this should not be done. It 
is an idea which may not have appeared in print before, but 
it has been entertained by some individuals of great ability, 
both in office and out of office. To carry out such a project, 



236 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

would only rec[nire a leader among tlie United States citizens, 
combining large experience of men, great liberality of heart, 
and a wise and benevolent humanity, together with business 
ability, energy, and perseverance, who should be able to gain 
the implicit confidence of the Indians. If these are infe- 
rior to the citizens of the United States in intellectual cul- 
ture and gift ; yet, on the other hand, as those who know 
them well, declare, they would throw into Congress a moral 
element which would be invaluable. There seems no other way 
of at once respecting their rights, and making them subject to 
the Federal Government, in those particulars in which all the 
States are subject to it, and give them their Sovereignty also, 
but to adopt some such plan. There might be a temporary 
condition of choosing white men for their Representatives in 
Congress. Jackson freely expressed it to be his personal 
opinion, during all these difficulties, that the Indians ought to 
submit to the laws of the State, within whose boundaries they 
were living, a ground which had never been taken by the 
Federal Executive before ; and M^hich accounts for his pas- 
sivity, with respect to protecting them against Georgia, during 
his own administration. But if the Indians are bound to sub- 
mit to laws, the spirit of the American Constitution dictates 
that they should be a party to the laws. 

The fur trade interest, both of the United States border, and 
of Great Britain, is the great foe to the civilization of the 
Indians ; and it has influence so extensive, though secret, 
that it has succeeded, hitherto, in neutralizing all the mis- 
sionary, as well as the government, efforts for civilizing 
them. The true way to civilize them, is to give them 
a genial self-respect, by acknowledging their rights in this 
genuine, practical manner, and it would be in harmony with 
the creative principle of the Federal Union to do so. 
Already five millions of dollars have been appropriated to ex- 



/ 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 237 

tinguisli the Cherokee claims ; an appropriation, which, if used 
to help them into Federal Union, would involve a fair com- 
pensation, in the long run. 

In 1826, an event occurred, analogous to that of the visit 
of Lafayette, it being an occasion for much demonstration of 
sentiment all over the Union. This was the death, on the 
same day, and that day the 4th of July, of Thomas Jefferson 
and John Adams. These men had first worked together as 
friends, in the establishment of the American Independence, 
and the formation of the Federal Union ; had then been sepa- 
rated for years, by rivalry for power, and different political 
views. In latter years, they had participated in the reconcil- 
iation of *' the era of good feeling," and had corresponded as 
personal friends. Their death, on the same day, and on that 
day, was a powerful appeal to the patriotic imagination 
and heart, as was evinced by the numerous orations on the 
occasion. 

In 1827, an extensive agitation was produced in the United 
States, on the subject of Masonry. Many people felt, and 
John Quincy Adams openly expressed himself of the opinion, 
that secret societies were not compatible with the genius of 
a Republican government, and that, however innocent, and 
even salutary, the mysteries of Masonry might have been in 
early ages, when the fraternal sentiment was yet unsupported 
by Christianity and Democratic institutions, it was useless at 
best now, and might be made politically dangerous. 

A mason, by the name of Morgan, breaking his oath of se- 
cresy, published a book, in which he intimated that the signs 
by which masons recognized one another, were symbolical of 
the capital punishments which the society inflicted on rene- 
gades, and suggested that the largest number of officials in the 
country were masons. He soon after disappeared, and it was 
believed by multitudes that he was carried off and murdered. 



288 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

The exitement passed away, however, without absolutely 
destroying the institution of Masonry, which its defenders de- 
clare to be hardly any thing else than a benevolent society. 
Once it was undoubtedly a scientific and artistic association, 
securing to its members instruction in geometry, architecture, 
&c. Some denominations of Christians put a church ban on 
all secret societies ; but at present they seem to be multitu- 
dinous. 

The expenses of John Quincy Adams' administration were 
far less than those of any succeeding term have been. This 
his friends ascribed to the honest frugality of the President. 
It was a period of unexampled prosperity all over the coun- 
try, and the friends of the protective tariff considered this the 
legitimate effect of that bill, under whose operation the great 
manufacturing towns of New England, Lowell, &c., sprang 
up. Nevertheless, the germs of an anti-tariff party began to_ 
sprout, in the south, and east, of which more will be said here- 
after. 

A great augmentation of the Protective Tariff took place 
in 1828. 

LESSON XXXIL— Adams. 

Who were Adams' competitors for the Presidency ? Who 
became Vice-President ? What had hitherto always been the 
attitude of the Federal Government towards the Indians 1 
What was the attitude of the States, especially the Southern 
States ? What had Monroe said on the subject in 1824 ? 
What was the origin of the Creek difficulty in 1825? How 
did Georgia attempt to justify herself '? What did the Fed- 
eral Government do ? What ground did Adams take ? What 
new outrage did Georgia commit in 1828 ? What did Adams 
say on the subject in his message ? What would be the best 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 239 

way to civilize tlie Indians ? "What great interest is opposed 
t6 their civilization 1 What were the characteristics of Ad- 
ams' administration ? 

Adams' inauguration is represented in the fifth, and the 
Creek difficulty in the sixth, subdivision of 1825. Death of 
Adams and Jefferson in the ninth subdivision of 1826 — all in 
orange color ; also in the sixth and ninth of 1827, is repre- 
sented the anti-Masonry movement, and death of Morgan. 

Andrew Jackson's Administration. 

In 1829, the presidential contest placed Andrew Jackson 
in the chair, John Quincy Adams being defeated. He began 
his administration with a general removal of all the officers 
within his prerogative to appoint, substituting his partisans. 
The measure surprised those who remembered his published 
letter to Mr. Monroe, on the subject of appointments ; and it 
is said that it did not originate in himself, but that he acted 
on the advice of Mr. Van Buren, who was in his cabinet, and 
acquired his complete confidence. Since that time, the prin- 
ciple of " the spoils to the victors," first uttered by Hichard M. 
Johnson, has prevailed in the presidential appointments. As 
it assures to the President the electioneering services of sev 
eral thousand men, cabinet officers, foreign ministers and con- 
suls, custom-house officers, and the postmasters all over the 
country, many persons believe that it makes public life more 
corrupt, and party spirit more mean and mad, continually. 
But those who defend it, say, that it only insures to the Pres- 
ident desirable cooperation in his executive duties ; secures a 
rotation in office, which keeps every thing fresh and lively; 
and prevents the growth of time-honored abuses. 

There is something in this ; and experience of the ultimate 
effects must decide the question. The immediate conse- 



240 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

quence of the first swoop was melancliolj for individuals, who 
had been working servants of the public for thirty years, 
Washington having appointed them, and were now old and 
unfitted for any other employments. But, of course, such 
life-disappointments could never come again, if rotation was 
to be the rule. 

Jackson's administration was signalized by the culmination 
of the Tariff controversy, in the Nullification doctrine of 
South Carolina. This requires a little explanation. In the 
war of 1812, when commerce was paralyzed by the non- 
intercourse act, which succeeded the embargo, manufactures 
had sprung up in the inland counties of Massachusetts and 
some other States, and were favored by the democratic party 
generally. As soon as the war was over, the country was 
inundated with imported goods, which depressed prices, and 
greatly embarrassed the small manufacturing interest. The 
Middle and Western States thought that a manufacturing 
population would give them a home market for their grains ; 
and the cotton States thought that, if India cottons could be 
excluded from the country, American cotton would find a 
market in the New England manufactories. The opposition 
was from the Eastern merchants, who were identified in the 
minds of the people with the opj)osition to the war of 1812. 
Clay and Calhoun, on the other hand, who had come into no- 
tice and popularity from their advocacy of the war, were the 
champions of a tariff, in Congress ; hence a moderate one was 
carried, in 1816 (Mr. Webster, then a new member, op- 
posing it). 

In the course of the next eight years, the controversy be- 
tween the free trade party and the tariff party was growing 
warm, and the friends of the tariff were also friends to Federal 
appropriations for internal improvements — canals, railways, 
and lake and river harbors — and all these things together ob- 



OF THE UIS'ITED STATES. 241 

talned the name of the American System, of which Clay con- 
tinued to be the champion ; while Mr. Calhoun changed his 
ground entirely. The cotton States found that it was still 
better to export their cotton to Old England, than to New ; 
and that their interest was promoted by the English having it 
in their power to send their manufactured goods to America. 
The grain States became indifferent on the question, when the 
increase of the country afforded them a sufficient market for 
their goods ; and the New England party, seeing how affairs 
were tending, concluded to put their capital into manufactur- 
ing stock, and a party sprang up in that quarter for a Pro- 
tective tariff. Hence the augmentation of the tariff of 1824, 
in favor of the woollen and iron manufacturers, proposed by 
the Convention at Harrisburg. Mr. "Webster opposed the 
tariff of 1824, though not so entirely as he had done that of 
1816. Another revision of the tariff was made in 1828, and 
found in him a decided advocate. Though the Eastern States 
were still commercial, there was now an immense manufac- 
turing interest there, which, of course, needed a tariff. The 
question was no longer about protection, but concerning what 
should be protected. The woollen manufacturers needed as- 
sistance. But a heavy duty on the raw material was a feature 
of the bill, on the ground of what was due to the agricultural 
interest. Duties on molasses were doubled, for the benefit of 
the grain growers of the Middle States. It was the design to 
make the bill as unpalatable as possible to the Eastern States. 
Mr. Webster spoke and voted for it, nevertheless, on the 
ground that what had been done before, had so influenced the 
disposition of capital, that, now, protection was no more than 
just. He was accused of acting as an attorney for his rich 
constituents ; and it could not be winked out of sight that Mr. 
Calhoun had also changed his ground, with the different as- 
pects of the Southern interest. But it is possible for great 



242 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

men to change their views conscientiouslj, and to view con- 
stitutional rights differently, under different lights. 

In 1832, the working of the tariff of 1828, was such, that 
the violent opposition of South Carolina embodied itself in a 
Convention, led by Mr. Calhoun, v/ho had resigned his office 
of Vice President, in which he was succeeded by Mr. Van 
Buren, who was Vice President during Jackson's second 
term. 

The Convention grounded itself on the principle of State 
Sovereignty, and on that provision of the Constitution, which 
says that Congress shall not impose a law that may press un- 
equally upon the States. It proceeded to declare that the 
duties should not be collected in South Carolina ; and that 
if any attempts to enforce the customs, should be used by 
the Government, that State would withdraw from the Union, 
and maintain its right to nullify by force of arms. This was 
nullification, such as was never dreamed of by the much cen- 
sured Hartford Convention ; and certaijtily did make nothing 
of the Federal Constitution and its compromises ; one of 
which was, a giving up to Congress, on the part of the States, 
of the regulation of commerce. That the tariff bill was an 
unconstitutional law, was not to be decided, however, by the 
State legislature that thought itself aggrieved, as Mr. Cal- 
houn maintained. Mr. Webster said the Supreme Court 
should decide ; but Jackson's personal will was at once aroused 
by the high-toned act of the exparte South Carolina Conven- 
tion. He maintained that the Executive should decide on 
its own responsibility, and immediately ordered General Scott 
to Charleston, with a military force, to see that the revenue 
laws of the United States were respected ; and to enforce 
them if they were evaded. 

It was fortunate for all parties, that an officer so prudent, 
as well as patriotic, had the conduct of this delicate affair. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 543 

By his wise forbearance while at Charleston, as well as his 
dignified and firm bearing-, Scott prevented an outbreak ; and 
meanwhile, Mr. Clay brought forward in Congress a new com- 
promise measure, which enabled South Carolina to retreat 
from her position, without too great mortification. This was 
a bill, providing for the gradual reduction of the tarijff for ten 
years, until it should fall to twenty per cent ad valorem on all 
articles. 

Little has been heard of nullification since. It is probable 
that Mr. Webster's answer to Mr. Hayne, has really, in the 
course of time, operated to destroy the illusion out of which 
it grew. Copies of this speech were multiplied into a greater 
number than any other pamphlet ever published in the United 
States. The idea and value of the Union is set forth in it, 
with a clearness and eloquence unsurpassable. It demon- 
strated, that the Federal Government is not the creation of 
the States, as such, but of the people as a -great nationality; 
and for the very purpose of limiting and neutralizing a nar- 
row, local policy, as that of a State is liable to be. It follows 
that the Btate and Federal powers must learn to adjust them- 
selves to each other, as the Congress and Judiciary do, which 
are independently derived from the people, and yet work in 
essential harmony. 

But nevertheless, in making, this adjustment, many impor- 
tant considerations may be derived from studying Mr. Cal- 
houn's speeches, addresses, and letters, giving an opposite 
view to "Webster's. He was a person who had great power to 
see into abstract principles, though apt to take telescopic, 
rather than views commanding the whole horizon of truth. 
He had, in short, not so practical a mind as Mr. Webster's, 
nor possessed such ability to take an average view, where 
many things were to be balanced against each other. 

It is the peculiar beauty of the United States Government, 



24-1 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

that while efficiency and internal welfare on minute points, 
are secured by the State governments and municipality or- 
ganizations ; a broad, noble, generous policy is inevitably sug- 
gested, by all the people's being part and lot of a nation, 
whose great extent involves so many independent -interests, 
that patriotism itself is made all but cosmopolitan. 

As the independence of municipalities does not interfere 
with the necessary efficiency of State government, so the 
State governments need not interfere with the broad action 
of the Federal Government. Each has its own sphere of 
operation ; and the superintendence of so vast a machinery 
of society, — of so many Avheels within wheels, — is a noble 
discipline of human reason, requiring, however, that constant 
light from above, which only comes to the disinterested and 
impartial lover of man and truth. " There is no mind so great, 
but ambition may bereave it of its last truth," as has been 
wisely said, and is demonstrated continually in our history ; 
while the healthy intellectual influence of perfect virtue is 
illustrated by the character of Washington. 

Another important matter dates in 1832 ; the famous veto 
of Jackson upon the bill for re-chartering the United States 
Bank. This bank had been founded in 1816, five years after 
the expiration of the charter of the first United States Bank. 
Its capital was $35,000,000, one-fifth of which was subscribed 
by government, though not without an opposition, in which 
Webster distinguished himself, who succeeded to make it a 
part of the bill, that deposits of government, as well as notes 
of the Bank, should be redeemable in gold and silver. He 
also procured the adoption of a specie resolution, by virtue of 
which debts due to the Treasury were required to be paid in 
gold or silver, treasury notes, or notes of the United States 
Bank — a measure which restored a sound basis to the cur- 
rency of the country, that had been in such confusion during 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 245 

the war of 1812, that there was a general suspension of specie 
payments at the banks. 

The large capital of the United States Bank, and its privi- 
lege of being the depository of the United States Treasury, 
had given an immense power to its Directors over the busi- 
ness of the country, enabling it to accommodate companies 
and individuals with the facilities that, according to the opinion 
of Jackson and others, enormously stimulated speculation, 
over-importation, and over-production in the manufacturing 
line. 

The reasons he assigned for this veto to the bill, so wrought 
upon Congress, that on reconsideration, it failed to obtain the 
two-thirds vote. There were those, however, who said that 
the reasons did not operate so powerfully as the personal pres- 
tige of the President. But however this may be, and notwith- 
standing the loss of the convenient paper currency, which 
could pass without discount in all parts of the United States, 
and had credit even in England, all parties seem now to have 
agreed that the old hero's instincts were right in *' taking the 
responsibility" of the veto. But it took time to realize the 
advantages of it, as its immediate effects embarrassed busi- 
ness. 

Jackson's course on Nullification, however, was so popular 
in the country, generally, that it balanced the dissatisfactions 
felt on account of his war against the Bank, and he entered 
upon his second term of administration with the general acqui- 
escence of all parties. But, in 1833, he carried the war far- 
ther, by removing the government deposits from the United 
States Bank, and dividing them among certain State Banks, 
thence nicknamed his " pets." This measure excited great 
opposition ; and both Mr. Webster and Mr. Calhoun spoke 
against it. 

Jackson's idea was, that the United States Bank was 



246 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

using' its vast money-power to corrupt elections, and produce 
a Timocracy ; and that the advantage of the deposits should 
be divided and more widely diffused. This measure was ap- 
proved by the House of Eepresentatives, but Mr. Clay 
moved a resolution to disapprove the President's act, which, 
with some modifications, passed the Senate, both Webster and 
Calhoun voting for it. The President then made a formal 
protest, which Mr. Webster considered as an encroachment on 
the rights of the Senate, and made a very great speech on the 
7th of May, on the constitutional rights and duties of that 
body, which gained great praise from persons of opposite po- 
litical prejudices. 

In March, 1835, a motion was made in the Senate to ex- 
punge the senatorial resolution disapproving of General Jack- 
son's removal of the deposits, and Mr. Webster spoke against 
it with great power. On this occasion he committed what he 
had to say to writing, and read it, as he wanted to weigh 
every word. It did not prevent the expunging resolution 
from taking effect ; but several of the opposition protested, and 
had their names recorded as doing so. 

But the removal of the deposits to the State Banks did not, 
in any degree, answer the ends Jackson professed to have in 
view. The pet banks, in fact, gave new impulse to land 
speculation. They lent out their money, in bills, not to per- 
sons trading, and making more of it, but to persons buying 
the public lands on speculation, which, of course, brought it 
back again as government deposit ; and then it was let out 
over and over again for the same purpose, so that, by-and-by, 
the banks owed so much that the government became alarmed, 
and required that all money paid into the land offices, should 
be gold and silver. 

The Whigs, at the same time, carried a measure of 
division to the several States, of the surplus revenue, which 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 247 

was now nearly one hundred millions. Jackson put his 
veto on this bill, but it- carried two-thirds majority in Con- 
gress, nevertheless, and so became a law. The money was to 
be paid in four instalments. With gi-eat difficulty, the banks 
made out to pay three; but so many of its debtors had only wild 
lands to show, which were unsaleable, that the banks could 
not collect the fourth instalment, and hence stopped specie 
payment in 1837 — about one month after Van Buren came into 
the President's chair. 

Then followed the order for paying all government dues 
in specie, the sub-Treasury, &c., of which more will be said 
hereafter. 

We will now turn our attention upon matters more attract- 
ive to the imagination of youthful students. 

The affair of the French indemnity, was this : In a treaty 
which the new government of France had made in 1831, an 
indemnity had been declared due to the United States, on 
account of the French spoliations in the early part of the cen- 
tury. 

In April 1834, the French Chamber of Deputies rejected a 
law authorizing the appropriation of 25,000,000 francs for the 
payment of this indemnity, which so disgusted the Duke de 
Broglie, and Sebastiani, that they resigned their seats in the 
Chamber. 

Jackson, in his message of December, 1834, noticed 
this fact, and suggested the propriety of making reprisals 
on French ships and property, until provision should be 
made for the fulfilment of the terms of the treaty of 1831. 
John Quincy Adams, who had become a member of the House 
of Hepresentatives, (declaring that a place on that floor, was 
the highest an American citizen could fill, which declaration 
his own eloquence in the position went far to prove,) followed 
up Jackson's suggestion, by a resolution, that the treaty of 



248 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1831 " should be maintained, and its fulfilment insisted on," 
whicli was unanimously adopted. 

This message and action of Congress offended the French, 
and they recalled their minister. But in April, 1835, a new 
ministry having been formed in France, with the Duke de 
Broglie at its head, the Indemnity bill passed the Chamber of 
Deputies by a vote of 289 to 137, but not without an amend- 
ment, according to which the money was not to be paid till 
after the French government should have received satisfactory 
explanations of the President's Message. On this Jackson 
made a special message to Congress, in which, so far from ma- 
king any explanation or apology, he threatened, that if the 
money was not paid forthwith, France must abide the hostili- 
ties of the United States. The indemnity was paid, and the 
whole affair redounded very much to the honor of Jackson, 
both in Europe and America — its successful termination being 
ascribed to his firm attitude and tone. Walter Savage Lan- 
dor addressed to him a grand laudatory ode on the occasion, 
which may be found in the English edition of his ''Pericles 
and Aspasia." 

Three years before, 1832, occurred Black Hawk's War. 
Black Hawk was the leading mind among the Sauks, a tribe, 
that, from time immemorial had inhabited Hock river, and 
were allowed their rights by the French, British, and Federal 
governments, successively. But the border population now 
grasped their country, and proceeded in the usual way of com- 
mitting outrages on the inhabitants ; provoking retaliations 
which should be a plausible pretext for war. 

At last, Black Hawk, in humble imitation of Pontiac and 
Tecumseh, combined several tribes, for the purpose of armed 
resistance. But one or two battles with the regular troops, 
who were sent to put them down, discouraged them, and 
Black Hawk was himself taken prisoner in the decisive battle 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 

of Bad-axe. He therefore capitulated, and did not long sur- 
vive the surrender of the object of his life. Subsequently 
General Scott, who had the direction of all these measures, 
whether of war or peace, made a definitive treaty with Keo- 
kuk, Black Hawk's successor, by means of which the tribes 
were removed to the borders of Lake Winnebago. To Gene- 
ral Scott, also, was given the task of subjecting the Cherokees 
to the State of Georgia, which claimed their lands, as it had 
done those of the Creeks, in Adams' time, and on the sam,e 
grounds. Jackson, unlike Adams, sympathised in the State's 
doctrine of sovereignty over all persons within the boundary 
line any State claimed, in recklessness of the rights of the 
Indians, expressly reserved by treaty, and which the Supreme 
Court had also decided were inviolable. The Colonial, Revo- 
lutionary, and Federal Governments had recognized the Che- 
rokees as an independent people, and no outrage on any In- 
dian nation, seemed so pathetic a case as this ; perhaps, only 
because most is known about it. The Cherokees, at the time 
of the settlement oi the Carolinas and Georgia, were a tribe of 
fire-worshippers, who seemed to be of a higher cast than their 
neighbors. They originally owned all the mountainous coun 
try ; but their borders had been contracted, as some of their 
bands had been induced to sell their lands from time to time, 
and go to Arkansas. Those that were left were very much 
attached to their cultivated lands, having been converted to 
Christianity, and partaken of the civilization of the whites. 
One of their tribe had invented an alphabet, and they had a 
newspaper and schools. 

But a rumor was spread abroad, that gold mines had been 
discovered in the Cherokee country, and the State of Georgia 
immediately determined that the Cherokees should be removed. 
Her legislature said, that the United States was bound to ex- 
tinguish the Indian title, by purchasing their lands of the In- 
11* 



250 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

flians, and handing them over to Georgia, according to the 
treaty of 1802. The Cherokees, however, maintained, that 
thej were not bound to sell, whatever compacts the United 
States had made to buy; and they refused to sell. Georgia 
then legislated in such a manner, as to make the Indians out- 
laws, and in 1835 a treaty was made with a few of the nation, 
by which they promised to remove. But as the Cherokees 
did not acknowledge the authority of these few persons to 
make treaties for the whole, they refused to abide by their 
treaty, and it became obvious that they could be removed only 
by force. Force, therefore, was applied by the Federal Gov- 
ernment, for the first time, to the Indians with whom they 
were in treaty. All the details of the affair are heart-rending, 
when we consider the Indians, who were guilty of no crime 
but their comparative weakness. And we cannot but lament 
that the Federal Government laid aside its paternal policy; 
It is unquestionable, that if Jackson had felt, as Adams did, 
that he must inquire for a " law higher than all human enact- 
ments,'' he might have threatened Georgia still more effectual- 
ly than Adams had done. 

The end was, that General Scott was directed to collect the 
Cherokees by a military force, and see them removed to Ar- 
kansas. In Hobinson's *' Book of the Army," may be found 
the address which Scott made to the Indians on this occasion. 
It betrays his deep sense of the cruelty of the act, whose 
moral responsibility, however, he left to be borne by the gov- 
ernment that ordered it, while he felt bound, as its soldier, to 
obey its orders. His army consisted of five regiments, to- 
gether with a large number of volunteers from the three States 
which divided, by their boundary line, the Cherokee country. 
Some bands of the tribe followed the advice of Scott, as given 
in his address, and emigrated voluntarily, seeing that if he was 
personally friendly, yet he would execute the orders given to 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 251 

him. The rest, in the course of twenty days, were surrounded 
by his army, and delivered over to the civil agents. He en- 
joined upon his troops, humanity and sympathy towards the 
sufferers; and at one time, took the responsibility of suspend- 
ing the Indian march, on account of the dryness of the season. 
He provided medical attendance and provisions for them, and 
even persuaded them to a general vaccination, a measure of 
humanity which has probably saved their tribe from extinc- 
tion, while many neighboring tribes have been wholly de- 
stroyed by small pox. In fact, if the thing was to be done at 
all, it could not have been done better than he did it. And 
the United States government did all that money could do, to 
ameliorate the deplorable case. 

At length Scott delivered up his charge to the half-breed 
E-oss, who, having in vain implored redress at Washington, 
had obtained the melancholy privilege of superintending the 
emigration, which was at length completely effected. 

The State of Georgia is responsible for this deed at the 
tribunal of that Justice which metes unto nations as well as 
to individual men, the measure that they have meted unto 
others. To do the deed must have demoralized it, and that is 
retribution. It was penal to miss the positive elevation of 
the general character of the State, which would have attended 
its discovering a better way. The removal of the Cherokees, 
is only the most flagrant instance of a wrong, which has been 
suffered by multitudes of these hapless tribes, who might have 
been made an important element of the United States na- 
tionality, had they been treated as men, whose equal rights 
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were self-evident. 
For that they are incapable af improvement, civilization, 
and Christianity, is the stereotyped lie of three centuries, con- 
tradicted by the successes of the French missionaries, and by 
the Cherokee civilization itself. This affair of the Cherokees, 



252 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

though hegim in Jackson's administration, was not finished 
till the year 1838, when Van Buren was President, 

The Florida War also began in 1836, but extended into the 
administration of John Tyler. We shall devote to it the next 
chapter, and go into it with some minuteness, as a sample of 
Indian wars, that are likely to be repeated, and should there- 
fore be understood 

LESSON XXXIII. 
Jackson. 

What was the first act of Jackson's administration ? Why 
did this surprise the country ? To whose influence is the 
measure ascribed ? Who first gave words to the principle of the 
'* Spoils to the Victors ?" What objection is made to this prin- 
ciple ; and how is it defended 1 Out of what controversy did 
the doctrine of nullification arise ? Where had manufactures 
sprung up in America, and when ? Who favored them ? 
What considerations brought on the tariff of 1816 ? Who 
favored it ? Who opposed it ? What is the American sys- 
tem ; and who was its constant champion ? What change of 
view did Mr. Calhoun experience ? Why did South Carolina 
take the free-trade side ? How did a party for a Protective 
tariff grow strong in the East ? In what State was proposed 
the tariff of 1824, and what was it? How came New Eng- 
land to take the side of an augmentation of the tariff in 1828 ? 
What were some of the articles, and the motives of introduc- 
ing them ? On what ground did Webster advocate the re- 
vision ? Can we believe that Webster and Calhoun were 
disinterested in their complete change of positions on this sub- 
ject ? When did nullification declare itself a law ? What 
principles did the nullifying convention profess ? What did 
they proceed to declare ? How was a law, accused of being 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 253 

unconstitutional, legitimately to be tried, according to Calhoun, 
Webster, and Jackson 1 "What did Jackson do about South 
Carolina's action? How did Scott and Clay manage the 
affair ? What has probably destroyed the illusion out of 
which nullification grew ? What was the doctrine of Web- 
ster's answer to Hayne 1 What follows from it ? What were 
the opposite characteristics of Calhoun's and Webster's 
minds ? What is the peculiar beauty of the Federal Govern- 
ment ? What had been the history of the United States 
Bank ? What did Jackson think about the bank ? What 
was the final effect of his veto on Congress ? What Is the 
general opinion now concerning an United States Bank ? 
What remarkable thing did Jackson do, In 1833 ? What 
was his idea? What was done In Congress about it? Did 
the banks answer the purpose that Jackson had in view, 
and why ? What measure, carried by the Whigs, hastened 
their explosion ? How did this operate ? When did the 
banks stop specie payment 1 How did the affair of the 
French indemnity begin ? What did Jackson say about this, 
in his message to the Congress, of December, 1834 ] What 
did John Quincy Adams do ? What occurred on the subject 
in the French Chamber of Deputies, in 1835 ? How did 
Jackson answer; and what was the end of the matter ? 
When and what was the occasion of Black Hawk's war ? 
What did he do 1 And how did it end 1 What else was 
Scott called to do of a similar nature ? What was the 
Cherokee difficulty ? What was the claim of Georgia? 
What was the original condition and history of the Chero- 
kees ? and their present condition 1 What excited the Geor- 
gians to this outrage ? How did the Legislature argue? What 
did the Cherokees reply ? How then did Georgia legislate ? 
What showed that they must be removed by force, if at all? 
What new course did the Federal Government pursue ? How 



254 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

did Scott open this business ? What was his army ? How 
did he proceed 1 What did he do for the comfort of the In- 
dians after he had enclosed them ? To whom did he deliver 
up the affair to be closed ? Who is responsible for this deed? 
What proves that the Indians may be civilized'? What year 
were the Cherokees removed ? When did the Florida war 
break out ? 

The Florida War. 

In 1821, the United States government had purchased of 
Spain, for the sum of 12,000,000 dollars, the territory of 
Florida, and opened it to emigration from the United States. 

Immediately there was a rush of land speculators into this 
country, whose few towns were thinly inhabited by Spanish 
and British traders, and whose interior was traversed by In- 
dians. 

The latter lived in villages, each of their palmetto huts be- 
ing surrounded by little patches of ground, which they peace- 
fully cultivated with grains and vegetables, while their rifles 
and fishing lines furnished them with animal food. The man- 
ner in which they had been treated by the Spanish and Brit- 
ish traders, who had wished to gain them as customers, had 
rather flattered that sense of their own importance which es- 
sentially characterises the North American Indian. Hence 
the new settlers from the United States found them by no 
means disposed to give up their lands, even for money ; although 
the whole Indian population did not consist of more than 5,000 
persons. And their reluctance was not strange, for the adven- 
turing speculators uniformly treated them with contumely and 
injustice. 

It was soon found necessary to take measures to induce or 
force them into narrower boundaries. This was by no means 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 255 

easj, as tliej even resisted assembling to treat upon tlie sub- 
ject. In 1823, liowever, a commission of tbree, appointed by 
the United States government in consequence of the urgency 
of the settlers , succeeded in bringing tliirty-two chiefs to sign a 
treaty at Fort Moultrie, by which they agreed to confine them- 
selves within definitely marked boundaries, on certain condi- 
tions. The treaty was made with the Federal government, 
although at the instance of the territorial government of Flor- 
ida; and the United States was the protector of the Indians; 
appointing an agent to see that the conditions of the treaty 
were observed on both sides. The first agent was Colonel 
Gad Humphreys, and his correspondence with the two gov- 
ernments (of Florida, and of the United States), which may 
be read in chapter first of Lieutenant Sprague's History of the 
Florida War, gives a very clear account of the circumstances 
in which the war originated ; and is a noble exhibition of Col. 
Humphreys' wisdom, humanity, and justice, during his whole 
period of oflS.ce, which was eight years. It was, in fact, only 
because he was so faithful to the rights of the Indians, that, at 
the instigation of the Florida people, including Duval, the gov- 
ernor, he was then put out of office. 

By the treaty of Fort Moultrie (which was brought about 
through the influence of Col. Humphreys, who soon concili- 
ated the respect and confidence of the Indians), they had 
promised to confine themselves within their prescribed bound- 
aries ; which were to be sacred to them, except that they were 
to allow roads for white travel, and the navigation of their 
rivers ; they also agreed to bring to the agency fugitives from 
labor and justice, the expense incurred in doing so being com- 
pensated by the agent. On the other hand; the United States 
appropriated $3,500 to compensate individuals who should be 
obliged, in settling within the prescribed boundary, to aban- 
don improvements on their lands ; and $2,000, to facilitate the 



256 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

transportation of the tribes, as well as a ration a day of corn, 
meat, and salt, to each individual for a year ; and $6,000, to 
be spent at once by the United States agent, to procure and 
distribute among them implements of husbandry, cattle, and 
hogs; also, for twenty successive years, an annual sum of 
$5,000 was to be distributed, as the President of the United 
States should direct; and a blacksmith and gunsmith was to 
be paid $1,000 a year with the expenses incidental to his 
shop ; while another $1,000 a year was appropriated for a 
school, to be established at the agency, and kept during the 
whole period. 

All this seems reasonable and parental on the side of the 
United States ; and, with the excellent agent, all would have 
gone on well and happily, but for the contrary action of the 
actual settlers, backed up by the government of the territory; 
for the letters of Ool. Humphreys show that the immense dif- 
fficulties which arose, are to be ascribed wholly to the rapacity 
and injustice of the whites. Traders held out inducements 
for the Indians to come into the towns to make purchases ; 
who were then taken up, as if on trespass, and in some cases 
wliipjped, for no other crime than being in the settlements ! 
The Indians were themselves slaveholders to a considerable 
extent ; and slaves that they had bought and paid for were 
sometimes claimed as fugitives, and the whites wanted In- 
dians to begin by giving up the slave claimed, and have their 
.cause adjudicated at the courts, where Indians were not per- 
mitted to testify. This the Indians refused to do, requiring 
that the whites should bring forward their proofs beforehand. 
Experience had taught them that property once put into the 
hands of the whites by Indians, was irrecoverable, in all cases. 
According to Ool. Humphreys' letters, most of the claims, if 
not all, were not substantiated by the whites. Yet, because 
the Indians stood upon their reserved rights, the money prom- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 257 

ised them by the United States was held back, which pro- 
duced great distress and uneasiness ; and this, and personal 
outrages on the part of the settlers, provoked reprisals ; 
though, on the whole, one wonders at the patience and rea- 
sonableness displayed in the talks of the chiefs, under such 
excitements. The settlers acted in such a manner, that war 
seemed to be their object. They wished, at all events, to 
induce the Indians so to act, as to give a pretext for requiring 
their absolute removal. Their motives for desiring this re- 
moval may seem mysterious ; for though Florida was a fine 
country for Indians, who only wanted, here and there, a patch 
of ground to cultivate, and lived by hunting and fishing in the 
pine barrens and waters to which they were acclimated ; the land 
was nearly worthless for every body else. The only wealth of 
Florida was in negroes who were possessed by the Indians, or 
who had fled to them from the States ; and the speculators 
thought, if the Indians were removed, they mxust sell these 
negroes for little or nothing, and that they could get posses- 
sion of them. 

A suggestion for removal, for another cause, came, how- 
ever, from Col. Humphreys, who became entirely convinced 
that it was impossible for the Indians to be protected in Florida 
against the white settlers, by the United States Government, 
whose departments at Washington were besieged by the 
agents of the settlers, and which continually sent orders that 
could not be executed by negotiation or persuasion, and yet 
refused military aid to the agent, by which he could use force. 
Humphreys, therefore, proposed to his protogees to send a 
deputation of their number to Arkansas, to explore the coun- 
try, and see if they would not like to transport themselves 
into it. They at first received the suggestion with great dis- 
gust ; but at length agreed to send the exploring deputation, 
provided the colonel himself would be of the party. 



258 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

But the personal hostility which Col, Humphreys had 
brought upon himself from the Florida settlers, was so brought 
to bear upon the territorial, and subsequently upon the United 
States Government, that, just at this- juncture, he was dis- 
missed from office. Governor Duval represented that he did 
not do his utmost to prevail on the Indians to comply with 
the wishes of the United States Government. Major Phagan, 
a partisan of the Florida settlers, was put into his place, whose 
actions, as agent, exasperated every difficulty ; and subse- 
quently Col. Gadsden was charged with the office of forcing 
the Indians to send this delegation to explore Arkansas. He 
collected, on May 9th, 1832, fifteen chiefs at Payne's Land- 
ing, where they agreed to send the delegation, and, provided 
they were satisfied with the report brought hack, promised to 
remove from Florida, the United States paying the expenses 
of the removal. 

But Major Phagan went with the delegation, instead of Col. 
Humphreys, and this was a very different thing, as the In- 
dians distrusted Phagan as much as they confided in Hum- 
phreys. It is not easy to get a definite account of all that 
passed ; but it is noticeable that at Fort Gibson, in Arkansas, 
an additional article to the treaty of Payne's Landing was 
signed by the members of this delegation, dated March, 1833, 
in which they professed themselves satisfied with the lands, 
and agreed that the removal should take place ; while it is 
certain that, when they returned to Florida, they did not m.ake 
a report consistent with this article, and the Indians entirely 
refused to abide by it ; declaring that they had sent their del- 
egation to make inquiry, not to make a decision for them. 
The delegation also denied that they had signed the article ! 
The Federal Government, however, taking no notice of this 
denial and opposition, of which probably they were not told, 
ratified, in April, 1833, the treaty of Payne's Lauding, with 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 259 

its additional article ; and General Wiley Thompson, of Geor- 
gia, was at once appointed Indian agent, and superintendent 
of the emigration, in place of Major Phagan ; while General 
Clinch, of the U. S. A., was ordered to the command of the 
regular troops in the territory, in case the Indians should 
prove refractory. 

They did prove refractory. Only one chief, Charley Math- 
lar, expressed himself willing to remove, and began to prepare 
for it ; and his life was threatened by the rest. A council of 
chiefs' was brought together by Colonel Thompson, in which 
he told them that the President would enforce the treaty. He 
was interrupted by groans and hisses, violent gestures, and 
low mutterings of vengeance. Oseola then makes his first 
appearance. He was not a chief, and could not lawfully 
speak out in council ; but he sat by Micanopy, the old chief, 
whispering in his ear what he should say. The agent in reply 
to the violent demonstrations of this assembly, threatened 
that hereafter no annuity should be paid to the nation. On 
this Oseola burst out, and tauntingly replied, that he and his 
warriors " did not care, if they never received ani>ther dollar 
from their great father," and drawing his knife, and dashing 
it into the table, he exclaimed, " The only treaty I will exe- 
ecute is this." 

It is plain that the proximate causes of the war were first, 
the " treaty of Port Moultrie," in 1851, which did not secure 
its own observance on the part of the whites ; secondly, the 
conditional treaty of Payne's landing in 1832; and that the 
immediate occasion of the outbreak, was the attempt, in 1834, 
to carry into execution this last, together with the " addi- 
tional article" that. bore the date of 1833. 

Lieutenant Sprague says, that the number of warriors in 
the field when the war commenced, was " 1660 ; to which 
may be added 250 negroes capable of bearing arms." 



260 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

The Indians of Florida were chiefly Seminoles, a tribe of 
the Creek nation, whose name means E-unaways, for they had 
separated, under a chief named Secoffee, from their brethren 
of Georgia, in the year 1750, and removed into Florida. 
Afterwards, another party of Creeks settled near Tallahassee. 
These tribes were at first resisted by the original inhabitants, 
the Mikasukies, — ^but were subsequently tolerated. They were 
all now wholly united in their resistance to the whites. 

The head of the Seminole nation was Micanopy, which 
means Pond Governor, old, fat and lazy ; but whose chief 
counsellor, or sense hearer, was Jumper, cunning, intelligent, 
eloquent, active and brave. Other chiefs were Little Cloud, 
(Ta-ha-loo-chee,) cold, silent, hating the whites ; but acting 
with promptness and decision ; Alligator — (Halpatter-Tuste- 
nugge) — shrewd, crafty, politic, with bland and attractive 
manners, speaking English, and unparalleled in artful tricks ; 
Holartoochee, contrasted to Alligator by his integrity, not 
only towards his own people, but with the whites also : 
he was prudent, wise, brave and active ; Wild Cat, or Coacoo- 
che — the most dangerous of all ; for to him war was pastime ; 
he became merry with, the excitement of it, and more vin- 
dictive by the infliction of barbarities, and in the inefficiency 
of the enemy. Pursued through swamps, he would stand on 
some eminence at a distance, laughing and ridiculing the sol- 
diers, as they were floundering, with their arms and accoutre- 
ments, in mud and water ; but on being approached, he would 
vanish from sight. With a few followers, whom he bound to 
himself by his boldness and success, he ranged the country 
with a fleetness, defying pursuit. Active as a deer, with a 
countenance bright, playful, and attractive, though the young- 
est of all, for he was not thirty years of age, he laid his own 
plans, and acted according to his own judgment. 

The chief of the Mikasukies was Arpeik, or Sam Jones, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 261 

seventy years old, — a prophet and medicine man, who acted 
on his warriors by incantations, midnight orgies and songs ; 
and did not himself fight. With him were several others, 
Tigertail, or Thocklo-Tnstennggee — the Fish King, — plausi- 
ble and attractive, but wily and deceptive ; Nethlocke-Math- 
la, his brother, who condemned his hypocrisy, and contended 
with him for the government of the tribe. He was intelligent 
and honest, and advocated peace and friendship ; but was 
strongly opposed to emigration. Lastly, Halleck-Tustenug- 
gee, at first a boy, but who became, before the war was over, 
a master spirit. 

There were also, at the beginning of the war, seventy 
Creeks under a chief named Octiarche, who resolutely con- 
tended six years. To these Creeks, many others from 
Georgia joined themselves. Oseola was born in Georgia, in 
1804, and belonged to the Red Sticks of the Creeks. He was 
a half breed ; his father being an Englishman, by the name 
of William Powell. His mother and himself had left his 
father when Oseola was only four years old, and settled in 
the Okefonoke Swamp ; but now they lived near Fort King. 
He was thirty-two years old, five feet eight inches high, with 
a manly, frank countenance ; self-possessed, and proud towards 
the whites, but with his adopted people — the Seminoles — dis- 
tinguished in the dance, ball play and on the hunt. He 
openly scouted the mummeries of the prophets ; declared his 
opinions openly ; and acted with a spontaneity which com- 
manded respect, and inspired his followers. His wife was 
named Chechotar, the Morning Dew, and he had four children 
to whom he was kind ; and he always enjoined on his war- 
riors, to spare women and children in war : *' we make war 
and draw the scalping knife on men ; let us act as men," he 
said. 

In the last part of the war, atribe of a hundred warriors, 



262 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

wliich were not known at the time of the treaty of Payne's land- 
ing, joined with the rest, under two chiefs, one named Cheki- 
ka, and the other Hospetarke, whose wife was a Spanish 
woman. This tribe spoke a mixture of Indian and Spanish. 

Such was the enemy, together with a few hundred negroes, 
who, whether fugitive or bound, fought furiously, the defeat 
of the Indians being the worst servitude for them. Against 
these forces the United States sent, in the course of the next 
seven years, more than 20,000 men ; and twenty millions of 
dollars, were paid to militia and volunteers, or to compensate 
losses incurred by citizens ; exclusive of the expenditures per- 
taining to the regular army ! 

Never was there such a war before. General Scott char- 
acterized it as an attempt to transport a tribe of wild Indians 
from one unexplored wilderness into another ; by an army to 
whom the climate was deadly, while it suited the Indians, who 
knew every hiding place, and who, during the summer, when 
the soldiers were obliged to intermit their service, could se- 
cretly cultivate their lands in the depths of the swamps. 
The first and great difficulty was to Jind this crafty enemy, 
who, on the other hand, had every advantage of opportunity 
to fight from under cover and in ambush. 

The massacre by Oseola of Charley Mathlar, who was the 
only chief that prepared for emigration, was the first earnest 
of war. The shooting of Colonel Thompson and Lieutenant 
Smith, who were carelessly walking out near Fort King, was 
the second ; and the attack and destruction on the same day 
of Major Dade and a hundred men, (who were coming to re- 
inforce Fort King, and hurry the emigrants), fairly com- 
menced hostilities. But these events must be more circum- 
stantially detailed. 

The assassination of General Thompson was by Oseola, 
whom he had mortally offended by putting him in irons when 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 263 

he had come to the fort with a white flag. Colonel Thomp- 
son did this because Oseola, on being reproved for his violent 
language, defied the power of the United States Government 
and its troops, in an insulting manner. He remained in con- 
finement six days, when he feigned penitence, and was en- 
larged, on the promise to emigrate, and to persuade others to 
do so. This was a false promise ; but he gained the confidence 
of the Colonel bj bringing in seventy-six warriors, who pro- 
mised to make ready for the emigration! On the 1st of 
January, 1836, a host of emigrants and explorers stood ready 
to rush in from the surrounding States, and take possession of 
the abandoned lands. To hasten the Indian movements, the 
whites committed outrages, not knowing upon what a volcano 
they were standing. For instance, a party of white men came 
upon six travelling Indians, who were in their camp, cooking 
a cow which they had slaughtered on their way ; and, as 
Lieutenant Sprague says, the white men " assaulted the In- 
dians in a most brutal manner, first taking possession of their 
rifles ; and then examining their packs, and whipping them 
most severely." Other Indians came up and fired on the 
whites, and " to punish this act, which was called an encroach- 
Tnent of the Indians, a company of whites was soon in the 
field to chastise them and protect the citizens T 

Sixty warriors were with Oseola, when he killed General 
Thompson and Captain Smith, who were perforated with 
numerous balls, scalped and mangled ; immediately afterwards 
the suttler's shop, towards which the gentlemen were walk- 
ing, was set on fire, and a man and boy killed and cut to 
pieces. The massacre was not made known at the fort, till 
some hours afterwards, but the garrison saw the smoke of the 
shop. As there were but forty-six men, and the strength of the 
enemy was unknown, the garrison awaited the expected rein- 
forcement from Fort Brooke, in order to sally with effect. This 



264 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

reinforcement was Major Dade's Command, and consisted of 
two companies, one hundred men in all, with nine officers. On 
the same day that Colonel Thompson fell, they were at- 
tacked by a body of Indians under Micanopy, Jnmper, and 
the Alligator ; the last of whom afterwards gave an account 
of the affair which Lieutenant Sprague reports. He said that 
" the Indians, were in ambush, and all rose and fired at once, 
which laid more than half the soldiers dead on the ground." 
The rest of them fired their cannon, whose balls went over 
the Indians' heads ; and as soon as the smoke cleared, every 
man who stood at the cannon, was marked and killed by the 
Indian rifles. "Then the soldiers shouted and whooped ; 
the officers shook their swords and swore. There was a little 
man, a great brave, who shook his sword at the soldiers, and 
said God-damn : — no rifle could hit him." A few survivors of 
this first attack attempted to build a log fort ; but Alligator, 
with ten warriors, returned, and found three men within it, 
whom he put to death after a little pajley, during which one 
of them seized an Indian, took away his rifle, and with the 
butt end of it, beat out his brains at one blow ; then he ran 
down the road ; but was followed by two Indians on horse- 
back, and shot. 

Thus commenced this seven years^ war, whose details are 
given by Lieutenant Sprague, in a narrative, which, if it 
rends the heart of the reader with sympathy for the natives, 
who so valiantly fought for their homesteads and the graves 
of their fathers, after enduring fifteen years of outrage while 
they seem to have been really trying to keep the peace ; yet, 
on the other hand, the moral sense is gratified, except in a 
few instances, by the humane conduct of the regular army, 
which evidently sympathized with the brave and outraged 
enemy, honored their patriotic courage, and used every op- 
portunity given, to persuade them into submission and peace- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 265 

able emigration. It stands in noble contrast to the conduct 
of the civil officers who acted with the army, hut really pre- 
vented the conquest of a peace ; for it was their immediate 
interest to keep up the war, which they could easily do, by 
supplying the Indians with ammunition and provisions, dur- 
ing those intervals, in which the latter artfully pretended to 
to negotiate ; and provoking them to new outrages, when 
they were sincere. The orders from Washington were in- 
fluenced hy these corrupt and selfish intriguers ; and per- 
petually reiterated that the Indians must he removed ; not- 
withstanding the representations of all the successive gen- 
erals, that this was requiring an impossibility of the army, 
who could annihilate them, as easily as they could remove 
them ; and could do neither, unless it could Jlnd them, in the 
47,000 square miles, over which they were scattered ! 

After some fighting by Generals Gaines and Clinch, with 
little determinate issue. General Scott was made Commander- 
in-Chief, who took the field the 22d of February, and oper- 
ated till the 1st of June ; with scarce any result except to 
wear his army down with constant watchings, tedious marches 
and disappointments, tracking an invisible enemy who had in 
such warfare, every advantage over them. Yet Lieutenant 
Sprague declares that Scott did all that could be done. It 
Avas called a failure, however, by the people of Florida ; and 
he was arraigned before a Court martial, where he defended 
himself successfully, by merely giving a history of the cam- 
paign, which is published by Lieutenant Sprague, pages, 114 
— 157, and by which every reader can judge him. He denies 
having failed in any thing that he found it possible to under- 
take ; and shows that he was prevented from doing what was 
expected, by the lateness of the order he received^ and the con- 
sequent short term of service jpossihle before the hot weather ; 
tJie cross operations of General Gaines ; the insufficient means 
12 



266 CHRON-OLOGICAL HISTORY 

for transportation of his troops ; insufficient supplies of hard 
bread and hacon ; the heat of the climate ; badness of water ; 
sickness ; the bad forage and grazing ; the want of roads and 
bridges ; the want of an auxiliary Indian force ; the want of 
guides. It appears also, from tliis defence, that tlie nnreason- 
able complaints of the people of Florida were the real cause 
of the accusations against General Scott. The Court of in- 
quiry decided that he was not only free from blame, but that 
his campaign was well devised, and prosecuted with energy, 
steadfastness and ability. 

The Governor of the Territory, 0. M. Call, succeeded Scott 
in the command. The ensuing summer was unusually sickly 
and the Indians were dispersed, as usual at the season, culti- 
vating their lands, and providing for the next campaign, but 
occasionally sallying out, butchering women and children, ex- 
press riders and trains. On the 10th of June, Oseola, at the 
head of 250 warriors, attacked Fort Miconopy. but retired af- 
ter a fight of an hour and a half under the broiling sun. Au- 
gust 12th, he was attacked, together with a band of 300 war- 
riors; and after an hour's battle, driven into an extensive ham- 
miock. 

Later in the year. General Jesup took the chief command, 
by whom 750 Creek Indians were added to the army, and 
paid as militia ; they wore -vfhite turbans to distinguish them 
from the enemy. These forces attempted to drive the Indians 
from Wakoo Swamp, where they were said to be in great 
numbers. One battle lasted four hours, when the troops re- 
treated, the Indians having retired further inward. It seemed 
unfortunate that they did not pursue their purpose, and take 
prisoners the Indian families which were sheltered in the 
swamp, as it might have made the warriors surrender. Jes- 
up pushed the war with great zeal and skill, but with little 
perceptible success. The Indians occasionally entered into 



OF THE UNITED STATES. " 267 

truces, and promised to go, especially after some chief and his 
band had surrendered and gone to Arkansas. Five chiefs 
agreed with Jesnp, in March, 1837, that their bands should 
cease hostilities and emigrate ; and said that Oseola and his 
band would join them. Jesup then thought the war at an 
end, and began to discharge his troops. But Oseola and Ooo- 
cooche came one night into the camp of 700 Indians, who were 
collected, waiting to go on board the transports to New Or- 
leans — and turned their minds, so that at daybreak they had 
all disappeared, being well clothed and provisioned, while their 
crops were far advanced ; and the sickly season precluded mili- 
tary operations against them. 

A letter of Jesup's, is given by Lieutenant Sprague, p.p. 
184, 197, in which he says, that, during the period of his com- 
mand, 2,400 Indians and negroes were taken or surrendered, 
besides those killed. Many villages were also destroyed, and 
their cattle, horses, and other property were either taken or 
destroyed ; while the swamps and hammocks were thoroughly 
explored. February 11th, 1838, Jesup wrote another letter 
to the War Department, in which he said he had always 
thought the Indians should be removed out of the borders of 
the States, by the United States, as the only means of pro- 
tecting them from the operation of severe laws made against 
them by the State authorities ; but he thought that this should 
be done only when the border population really pressed upon 
the Indian territory ; and that it was at too great sacrifice that 
the present object was pursued, of " removing la band of sav- 
ages from one unexplored wilderness to another." The sug- 
gestion was answered by the Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett, 
with the remark, that it was useless to recur to principles, or 
array arguments ; the removal must take flace ; and the army 
must accomplish it. The battle of Okechobee, in which Ool. 
Taylor commanded, was the most important that took place 



268 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

under Jesup. On the Indian side 380 warriors were engaged ; 
102 men and 9 officers were wounded on tlie American side, 
and 22 men and 5 officers killed. 

Oseola had been captured by tbe Spanisb General Hernan- 
dez, on the 22d of October, 1837. He bad come to Fort Ma- 
rion witb a white flag', and Hernandez was ordered by Gene- 
ral Jesup to take him prisoner, unless he complied with the 
assurances he had formerly made, to surrender his band. His 
fate was melancholy. Imprisonment broke his spirit. He 
refused sustenance, and would see no visitors. All efforts to 
cheer him and represent Arkansas as a desirable home, failed. 
He expired after a short illness, broken-hearted. 

In May, 1838, General Taylor succeeded Jesup in the 
command. His plan was to divide the territory into military 
districts twelve miles sq[uare, and post twenty or thirty men, 
half of them mounted, in the centre of each, to scout the dis- 
trict every other day, and to be responsible that the hammocks 
and swamps should be clear of Indians, The execution of 
this energetic plan was interrupted by the arrival of Major 
General Macomb, in May, 1839, empowered by the President 
to make arrangements with the Seminoles. This he thought 
he had done, after haying met some of the chiefs, and arranged 
that they and their bands should remove beyond a certain 
boundary towards the south, in the space of sixty days. Lt. 
Sprague gives Macomb's letter to Poinsett, p.p. 229-232, in 
which he describes this whole negotiation. 

The war was now supposed to be ended, and hundreds of 
the Florida settlers returned to their plantations. For a 
month all was peaceful ; the Indians cultivating their lands. 
But in the last of July, the massacres began again ; and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Harney's command of 300 men, who had gone 
to establish a trading house, for which General Macomb had 
made arrangement, in order to meet the convenience of the 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 269 

Indians, was attacked, while tliej were in bed, before day- 
break, and 24 killed. Thus the Florida war was renewed in 
all its horrors. 

The forces of the territory seem to have joined with the 
United States troops in 1840, with more good-will than before ; 
and it was they who sent to Havana for bloodhounds, with 
the purpose of employing them to track the Indians. Thirty- 
three were obtained, at a cost of $5000 ; and they were muz- 
zled and put on the track. But these dogs were accustomed 
to the scent of negroes, and could not be trained to hunt In- 
dians. The scheme proved a total failure. It seems that 
General Taylor approved this measure, and Mr. Poinsett au- 
thorized it. But both expressed that the purpose was, for the 
dogs to find the Indians merely, not worry them ; and there- 
fore they were muzzled. 

In May, 1840, Taylor, at his own req[uest, resigned the 
command, and was succeeded by General Armistead. The 
sickness of the troops, the treachery of the Indians, (who 
would make truces, and pretend to be gathering themselves 
for emigration, but when, by these means, they had availed 
themselves of the opportunity of supplying themselves with 
ammunition, &c., would go off, to re-appear soon after, for mas- 
sacre), baffled all the energy of the General, and discouraged 
the army. The murder of a Mrs. Montgomery brought on an 
engagement with her escort, by whom thirty-two warriors, and 
sixty women and children were secured and sent to Arkansas 
iu June, 

The authorities of Washington, harassed by the complaints 
of the Florida settlers, now rescinded their instructions to 
induce the Indians to an amicahle surrender, and required 
Armistead to prosecute the war with vigor. More than a mil- 
lion of dollars were appropriated and put at the command of 
the General, who used some of this to tempt them to the 



270 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

removal. But tlie most zealous and intelligent of the Indians, 
reverencing the soil in which were the graves of their dead, 
and around which they believed the departed spirits hovered, 
declared vengeance against every Indian who should put him- 
self within the sphere of temptation. Their fanaticism in- 
creased, and was manifested by new massacres. Halleck 
Tustennuggee kept the whole country, from St. Augustine 
southwest to Fort King, in constant alarm. But Lt. Alburtis 
succeeded at last in driving him from the locality, and Wax- 
ahedjo (another chief, who was surprised by Captain Beall, 
as he was examining the mail bags of a postman he had killed, 
and whose head was roasting on the fire), was driven into a 
pond, and shot. 

Lieutenant Colonel Harney, in December, 1840, pursued the 
Indians who occupied the Everglades, with a hundred men, 
killed Chekika, and took six of his men, who were executed 
on the spot ; and the Indians, seeing with what perseverance 
and skill the troops threaded the most intricate passages of 
the unexplored region, abandoned the Everglades, proffering 
peace, and making offers of emigration. These were accepted- 
and believed to be sincere, and the Indians were clothed and 
fed for removal; but the propitious season returning, they 
simultaneously returned to the Everglades, laughing at the 
credulity of the whites. ^ 

It is impossible to give all the details of the seven years of 
war. At one time, Coacooche was induced by Micco, who 
had surrendered, to come in with his band, and have a talk. 
He was fantastically arrayed in parts of a wardrobe plundered 
from a theatrical party. He himself sported^ the nodding 
pli^mes of Hamlet; and his companion was arrayed in the 
modest garb of Horatio ; while Richard the Third's purple and 
ermine decorated another, who wore a no less dark and re- 
vengeful visage than the old English assassin. The rest were 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 271 

ornamented with spangles, crimson vests, and feathers. His 
manner was self-possessed, his speech fluent, and he professed 
himself secure under the protection of the white flag of truce. 
At the proper moment, his daughter, who had been taken from 
him as he was returning a little while hefore from a bloody- 
massacre, was allowed to go to him unhurt ; and his surprise 
and gratitude at this unexpected grace, brought tears, so un- 
accustomed to the eyes of his race. He actually wept. Col. 
"Worth seized the soft moment, to urge the close of the war, 
and Coacooche promised to go and bring in his band. He 
remained four days in the camp, and departed with his child, 
unmolested, promising to effect this ; but he only occasionally 
returned, pretending to lament that he could not collect the 
band ; and in every instance that he returned, he supplied 
himself with new munitions of war. 

At one time, friendly Indians were sent for from Arkansas, 
to be sent out as ambassadors, to make representations of the 
advantages of the emigration. Perhaps they did the contrary. 
At all events, the fanaticism of patriotism seemed to increase 
in the Indians, who enlisted in their behalf the admiration of 
the United states army, which is strongly expressed by Lieut. 
Sprague. 

In May, 1841, Gen. Armistead retired, and the command 
was passed over to Ool. Worth. It had now become obvious 
that the Indians' great ally was the summer season, which 
was to them what the depot and magazine is to the civilized, 
affording them the means whereby to prosecute the war the 
other eight months. Ool. Worth saw this, and his plan was 
made to prosecute the war through the summer season, whicn 
he deliberately proposed to his army. That he should do 
this, and that the army should accept the proposal with alac- 
rity, proves, in both parties, the most self sacrificing devotion 
to the duty a soldier swears to do. Lieat. Sprague says : 



272 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

"An imperative sense of duty alone gave to the officer and 
soldier resolution and fortitude ; no glorious idea animated to 
dutj, and urged on to victory; no principle of liberty or right, 
for which he might shed his blood and mantle his name with 
glory ; the clarion which led him to battle was the war-whoop ; 
his sword, the scalping-knife ; his standard, the scalps of red 
men ; his prisoners, innocent women and children!" 

The simple injunction given by Col. Worth to the officers 
Tras, to " find the enemy, capture, and exterminate him." 
About 3,500 men took the field the first of June; more than 
a thousand being on the sick list. An attempt was made 
upon Halleck-Tustenuggee at first, whose village was found 
and destroyed ; but it had already been deserted. The troops 
who had marched forty -four miles, and then waded through 
Lake Fanee-Suffekee, were disgusted and dispirited, on being 
obliged to retrace their steps, without having seen a single 
Indian. 

On the 15th of June, news was brought to Colonel Worth, 
that Wild Cat was captured by Major Childs, together with 
twelve warriors and three negroes, and that he had sent them 
all in irons to New Orleans, on the Avay to Arkansas. Colo- 
nel Worth, with the idea of making use of Wild Cat's influence 
in bringing in the other Indians, determined to send for him 
back. The interview between the Colonel and these priso- 
ners, on board the transport in which they were brought back, 
is most expressive of the feeling of the regular army on the one 
side, and of the moral position of the Indians on the other. 
When led up from below the prisoners came into the presence 
;of the United States officers very slowly, their feet being 
chained together, so that they could move them only a few 
inches at a time. They were all seated, with their manacled 
hands on theii knees, and their heads drooping, when the 
Colonel, with a respectful gesture, took the hand of Wild 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 273 

Cat, and said, " Ooacooclie, I take yon by the liand as a 
•warrior, a great brave ; yon have fought long and with a true 
and strong heart for yonr country. I take your hand with 
feelings of pride ; you love your country as we do ours ; it is 
sacred to you ; the ashes of the dead are sacred to you, and 
to the Seminoles. Ooacooclie — these feelings have caused 
much bloodshed — much distress — ^horrid murders ; it is now 
time that the Indian felt the power and strength of the white 
man. Like the oak yoa may bear up for many years, against 
strong winds ; the time must come when it will fall : your 
time has arrived. You have withstood the blasts of five win- 
ters, and the storms of thunder, lightning and wind, for five 
summers ; the branches are now fallen ; and the tree, burnt at 
the roots, is prostrated. 

" Ooacooche, I am your friend. So is your great father at 
Washington. What I say to you is true ; my tongue is not 
forked like a snake ; my word is for the happiness of the red 
man. 

" Ooacooche, you are a great warrior; the Indians throughout 
your country look to you as a leader ; by your councils they 
are governed. This war has lasted five years ; much blood 
has been shed, much innocent blood ; you have made your 
hands and the ground red with the blood of women and chil- 
dren. This war must now end. You are the man to do it ; 
you must and shall end it. 

" I have sent for you, that through the exertions of yourself 
and men, you might induce your whole band to emigrate. 
Select three or five of these men to carry your talk ; name 
the time it will require to effect an interview with the Indians 
in the woods ; it shall be granted ; but I tell you, and I wish 
your relatives and friends told, that, unles they fulfil your de- 
mands, yourself and these warriors shall be hanged upon the 
yard-arms of this vessel, with the irons on your hands and 
12^ 



274 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

feet, on tlie sunset of the day appointed for their return. 1 
tell you this, that we may well understand each other. I do 
not wish to frighten you. You are too brave a man for that ! 
But I say what I mean ; and I will do it. It is for the benefit 
of the white and red man alike that this war should end. 
And, Ooacooche, it is you who inust end it.^^ 

The Indians raised their manacled hands to hide the tears 
that slowly coursed down their rugged faces ; and the United 
States officers were not unmoved. Coacooche rose up, his 
manly form quivering with excitement, and in a subdued tone 
began : " I was once a boy ; then I saw the white man afar 
off. I hunted in these woods, first with a bow and arrow, 
then with a rifle. I saw the white man, and was told he was 
my enemy. I could not shoot at him as I would at a wolf 
or bear ; yet like these he came upon me ; horses, cattle, and 
fields he took from me. He said he was my friend, but he 
abused our women and children, and told us to go from the 
land. Still he gave me his hand in friendship ; we took it, 
and whilst we took it, he held a snake in the other : his tongue 
was forked ; he lied and stung us. I asked but a small piece 
of these lands; a place where I could lay the ashes of my 
kindred. This was not granted me ; I was put in prison ; I 
escaped ; I have been again tal^en ; you have brought me 
back; I am here; I feel the irons in my heart. I have list- 
ened to your talk ; you and your officers have taken us by the 
hand. I thank you for bringing me back. I can now see my 
warriors, my wife and child ; the Great Spirit thanks you ; 
the heart of the poor Indian thanks you. We know but little ; 
we have no books which tell all things ; but we have the 
Great Spirit, the moon and stars ; these told me last night 
you would be our friend. I give you my word — the word of 
a warrior — a chief — a brave ; it is the word of Ooacooche. It 
is true I have fought like a man ; so have my warriors ; but 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 275 

the whites are too strong for us. I wish now to have my 
band around me, and go to Arkansas. You say I must end 
the war ? Look at these irons ! Can I go to my Avarriors ? — 
Coacooche chained ! No — do not ask me to see them, j 
wish never to tread upon my land, unless I am free. If I can 
go to them unchained, they will follow me , but they will not 
obey me, when I talk to them in irons. They will say my 
heart is weak ; that I am afraid. Could I go free, they would 
suiTender and emigrate." 

Col. Worth reiterated that he could not be unchained till 
his whole band was in ; that he must send to them his talk, 
for he could not go to them ; that if they did not come in by 
the appointed day, "the sun will shine upon the bodies of 
each of you, hanging in the wind." On the other hand, if they 
did come in, he should be unchained to speak to them. 

The convulsive expression of Coacooche's face showed that 
he believed him. The vessel in which he and his warriors 
were chained lay moored two miles from shore. There was 
no hope of rescue. He consulted with the warriors around 
him, and selected five for his messengers. To these he spoke 
long and earnestly, his low guttural tones expressing the reality 
of the eloquence. " Has not Coacooche sat with you by the 
council-fire, at midnight, when the wolf and the white man 
were around us ? Have I not led the war-dance and sung 
the song of the Seminole 1 Did not the spirits of our mothers, 
our wives, and our children stand around us ? Have I not 
made the war-path red with blood ; and has not the Seminole 
always found a home in my camp ? Then, will the warriors 
of Coacooche desert him? !N^o ! if your hearts are bad, let 
me see them now ; take them in your hands, and let me know 
they are dark with bad blood ; but do not, like a dog, bite 
me, so soon as you turn your backs. 

'' If Coacooche is to die, he can die like a man. It is not 



276 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

my heart that shakes; no, it never trembles; but I feel for 
those now in the woods, pursued night and day by the sol- 
diers ; for those who fought with us, till we were weak. The 
sun shines bright to-day; the day is clear; so let your hearts 
be. The Great Spirit will-guide you. At night, when you 
camp, take these pipes and tobacco ; build a fire, when the 
moon is up and bright ; dance round it ; then let the fire go 
out, and just before the break of day, when the deer sleeps, 
and the moon whispers to the dead, you will hear the voices 
of those whe have gone to the Great Spirit ; they will give 
you strong hearts and heads to carry the talk of Ooacooche. 
Say to my band that my feet are chained ; I cannot walk ; 
yet I send them my word, as true from the heart as if I were 
on the war-path or at the deer-hunt. The head and heart of 
Ooacooche says to you, that the great white chief will be kind 
to us. He says that when my band is all in, I shall again 
walk my land free. Take these sticks ; here are thirty-nine ; 
one for each day ; this, larger than the others, with blood upon 
it, is the fortieth. When this only remains, say to my people, 
' With the setting sun of this, day, Ooacooche hangs like a dog, 
with none but white men to hear his last words. Oome, then ; 
come by the stars, as Ooacooche has led you to battle ! Oome, 
for the voice of Ooacooche speaks to you !' Say to my wife 
and child — " The eloquent young chieftain here paused, and 
turned away his head, while tears flowed over his youthful and 
manly countenance. No sound broke the solemn silence 
whose pathos all felt. Silently the soldiers took off the irons 
of the five messengers, and Ooacooche pressed each by the 
hand as he passed over the side of the vessel to the boat ; giv- 
ing one a silk handkerchief and breastpin, he said, " Give 
these to my wife and child." 

And true was it, that, on the fortieth day, the messengers 
returned with the whole band. When told of this, Ooacooche 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 277 

exclaimed, with Ms old dashing manner, •' Take off my irons, 
that I may meet my warriors like a man;" and when this was 
done, he waved his arms, stretched his form to its utmost 
height, and nttered a shrill whoop. It was answered by his 
band upon the shore, to which he was immediately conducted. 
He addressed them briefly : " Warriors ! Coacooche speaks to 
you. You have listened to my word ; I thank you ! The 
Great Spirit speaks in our councils. The rifle is hid ; the 
white and the red man are friends. I have given my word 
for you; and I am free. Then let my word be true." And it 
proved so. Coacooche, from this time forward, worked faith- 
fully, and persuaded band after band of the Indians to come 
in, and consent to emigrate. He had now determined to go to 
Arkansas himself, and he wished as many as possible to go 
too. For a while he worked from the motive of getting the 
irons taken off the rest of his companions. This was effected, 
when as many bands were brought in as he thought it possible 
for him to bring. Then the whole party was sent to Arkansas 
together, by sea. 

But more than a hundred T^arriors were still known to be 
left ; and the army, divided into small parties, carried desola- 
tion into every haunt of the Indians, destroying their corn 
fields, and huts, breaking up their summer amusements and 
employments, and traversing swamps and hammocks, where 
the undergrowth was so rank that the troops were obliged to 
clear their way with hatchets ; or they waded through water, 
covered with a green scum, and whose disturbance filled the 
air with putrid effluvia. More than 2000 soldiers were added 
to the sick list by dysentery and fever, but the remainder per- 
severed. Halleck Tustenuggee with thirty-five followers was 
found to be at Haws Creek, from which he made assaults, to 
guard against which, additional forces were sent to St. Augus- 
tine, and other points, and Major Plympton undertook to 



278 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

drive tlie hand from their hiding place. Lieutenant Sprague 
tells all the details of the taking of Halleck Tustenuggee, of 
Tigertail and others, who, as soon as taken, were sent off to 
New Orleans. 

But the fewer the numbers of the Indians left, the harder 
it was to find them. Worth at last wrote a letter to Scott 
representing this. He said there could be but about seventy 
left and their very smallness of number made the pursuit of 
them continually more hopeless ; he respectfully submitted 
that it became more and more unwise to track them at such 
immense cost of life and money. His views prevailed ; and 
the remnant of Indians were induced to promise to confine 
themselves upon the river Oarlosohatchee, a beautiful region 
which could be cultivated with grains and vegetables, whose 
lands abound with game, and the shore with oysters and fish. 

It will be observed, that we have followed implicitly the 
account of Lieutenant Sprague, whose volume is a mine of 
information, as it contains the actual correspondence of the 
Indian agents and officers of the army with the Departments 
of Washington. Of course, in its 550 pages, there are a thou- 
sand details for which our school history has not room ; but 
the work can be consulted by such as please. It sadly wants 
an index, and its spirit and matter deserve a more artistic set- 
ting forth than probably was possible for the active soldier. 
The letter of the people of Florida, first published in the St. 
Augustine Herald, Sept. 16, 1845, and which enjoins upon 
the people a more faithful and humane execution of the pro- 
visions of the last treaty, than the former treaties received at 
their hands ; is alike creditable to his head and heart. He 
was for some years, Indian agent. It is satisfactory to know 
that seven years war has not been able to quench the confi- 
dence of the Indians, in the good faith and humanity of the 
United States army. To inspire such a feeling in the poor and 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 279 

unprotected, is certainly a rare and the highest glory of a mili- 
tary body. Unfortunately, it is not shared by the State militia. 

LESSON XXXIY.— Florida War. 

When was Florida bought ? and for what sum ? and what 
immediately ensued ? How was the country inhabited ? 
How did the Indians live ? How many Indians were there ? 
Why were they not disposed to sell their lands ? Why was it 
difficult to compress them into narrower boundaries ? What 
were the circumstances of the treaty of Fort Moultrie ? 
What was the attitude of the United States ? Who was the 
first appointed Indian agent ? How is his character displayed, 
and what was it ? How came he to be put out of office ? 
T^Hiat was the treaty of Fort Moultrie ? What compensation 
did the United States allow ? What prevented things from 
going on happily ? What do the letters of Colonel Hum- 
phreys show respecting the injustice done to the Indians ? 
What seemed to be the object of the Florida settlers ? Why 
did they wish for this removal? Why did Humphreys pro- 
pose removal to the Indians themselves ? What suggestion 
did he make to the Indians ? and with what result ? Why 
was he dismissed from office 1 Who was put into his place ? 
With what effect ? What office was given to Colonel Gads- 
den ? What can you tell of the treaty of Payne's landing ? 
Who went with the exploring delegation ? What additional 
article was made at Fort Gibson ? Why would not the tribes 
abide by it ? What did the United States Government do 
respecting it ? and what was done to facilitate removal ? Did 
the Indians ■ prove refractory? How did the several chiefs 
take the communications of Colonel Thompson ? What were 
the proximate causes of the war ? How does Lieutenant 



280 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Sprague estimate their fighting forces ? What were the pre- 
dominant tribes ? What was the history of this tribe ? 
What other tribes were there ? What do you remember 
about Micanopy ? Jumper ? Ta-ha-loo-chee ? Halpater-Tuste- 
nuggee ? Holastoochee ? Ooacoochee ? Arpeik ? Thocldo- 
Tustenuggee ? Nethlocke-Mathlar ? Halleck Tustenuggee ? 
Octiarche ? Oseola? Chekika? Hospetarke ? Why did the 
negroes fight with the Indians ? How many regular troops 
were sent against these Indians in the next seven years 1 
What was paid beside their wages ? How did Scott char- 
acterize this war ? What was the first earnest of war ? 
What were the next two 1 Tell the circumstances of Thomp- 
son's death ? What outrages of the whites preceded the mas- 
sacre of Dade and his party 1 Give the Alligator's reminis- 
cences of that affair ? What various impression on the mind 
is made by Lieutenant Sprague's narrative of the war ? How 
could the civil officers keep up the war, and why 1 What 
orders impossible to be obeyed came constantly from Wash- 
ton ? Why ? Who was made General-in-Chief and what 
did he do in 1836 ? How did he defend himself against the 
charge of failure ? Was he acquitted ? Who succeeded him 
in the command ? What is the history of the ensuing season ? 
What was done June 10th ? What August 12th ? Later in 
the year, who took the command ? What reinforcement did 
he bring ? What happened at Wahoo Swamp ? What suc- 
cess did Jesup have ? When did Jesup think the war at an 
end, and why ? What showed him his mistake ? What ac- 
count did Jesup give of his success, while he was General? 
What letter did he write to the War Department ? What 
did Mr. Poinsett answer ? What do you remember about the 
battle of Okechobee ? What was the fate of Oseola 1 Who 
succeeded Jesup in May, 1838 ? What was his plan ? What 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 281 

interrupted its execution ? What was Macomb's treaty ? 
Where is to be found his own account of it 1 When did the 
war renew itself, and how ? What do you remember about 
the campaign of 1840 ? What about the bloodhounds ? 
.Why did Armistead take Taylor's place ? What bafflled the 
General and discouraged the army ? What do you remember 
about the murder of a Mrs. Montgomery ? What new 
orders came from Washington to Armistead 1 What money 
was put at Armistead's disposal, and what did he do with some 
of it ? What effect had this on the patriotic Indians 1 What 
do you remember of Halleck-Tustenuggee, at thisj-ime ? and 
Waxihadjol Chekika? What stipulations followed ? Were 
they proved sincere ? What do you remember of a tempo- 
rary truce with Coacoochee ? Why were Indians sent for from 
Arkansas ? Did this succeed ? How did the Indians appear ? 
When did Colonel Worth take the command ? What did 
Colonel Worth see was the Indian ally ? What plan did he 
propose to the army ? Did they accept 1 Why 1 What does 
Lieutenant Sprague say of the moral position of the army? 
What injunction did Colonel Worth give to the army ? How 
many men took the field ? What was their first attempt and 
success? What news was brought to Colonel Worth the 15th 
of June ? What did Colonel Worth then do, and with what 
idea ? Describe the place of the interview between Coacoo- 
chee and Colonel Worth ? What did he say to Coacoochee ? 
What did Coacoochee reply 1 What did Worth rejoin ? 
How did Coacoochee take this ? What did he say to the 
band ; and his envoys ? Did they return ? What did he 
then ? Was he henceforth faithful ? AVhy did he work so 
zealously ? What number of warriors were left ? How did 
the army proceed against them ? How many soldiers be- 
came sick? What was done to get possession of Halleck 
Tustenuggee ? What efficient things were done ? What 



282 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

letter did Worth write to Scott ? What was done in conse- 
quence ? What is said about Lieutenant Sprague and his 
book ? 

Martin Van Buren's Administration. 

Martin Van Buren succeeded to the Presidential chair in 
1837, being borne into office by the Jackson party, of whose 
administration his own may be considered the necessary sup- 
plement. But he came in by a bare majority, just as the 
financial difficulties came to a crisis, and the banks stopped 
specie payment. The measure that he devised to meet the 
exigency of the times, though denounced at the moment by 
the merchants as adding insult to injury, has been called by 
his friends " the silver trumpet of order," which, sounding over 
the chaos of affairs, brought a prosperous community out of 
what seemed to be " the wreck of matter." It was an exten- 
sion of the principle of the specie circular that had been ad- 
dressed to the public land agents, and which was now addressed 
to all custom-house officers and postmasters; more than reviv- 
ing Webster's provision of 1816, by requiring that all dues to 
the government should be paid in gold and silver ; and that 
this should not be deposited in any bank whatever, but in the 
United States treasury itself, of which branches must be estab- 
lished in every city where there was a custom-house ; that is, 
the strong-box of every custom-house and post-office was to be 
a sub-treasury of the government, whose money was no longer 
to be lent for trading purposes to any body. 

The immediate effect was to heighten the distress, and the 
government made the compromise of receiving, in payment of 
dues, its own protested drafts. That is, when the government 
had a debt to pay, and gave a draft on a bank, and this bank 
did not pay, the protest was indicated on the face of the draft 



^ OF THE UNITED STATES. 283 

and tten, when it was presented to tlie sub-treasuiy, it would 
be taken tliere instead of gold and silver. 

Bnt the ultimate effect was to force tlie banks to resume 
specie payments. Merchants had agreed to receive tlie paper 
of the non-paying banks ; but as the government would not 
receive it, it was necessary to make an exertion to get specie, 
which they did, or failed at once. 

All parties now are nearly agreed in commending this mea- 
sure, whose ultimate effect has been to check that over-trading 
and speculation which grew out of the system of government 
banks. As merchants are obliged to draw specie out of the 
banks to pay their duties, and the banks have not government 
money to lend to them, wherewith they may buy goods in 
foreign countries, or speculate in this, monopolising land, and 
multiplying manufactories too rapidly, business life has become 
more moderate and safe. There were individuals, who counted 
themselves of the opposition party, who were sagacious enough 
to see the wisdom of the plan, and its ultimate bearings, at 
once ; but as it took time to develope the advantages of it, and 
its disadvantages were immediate, the mass of the business 
world raised a storm of opposition ; and Mr. Van Buren, unlike 
Gen. Jackson, had no reputation of military glory, and was 
deficient in the power of inspiring that personal confidence 
which carried Jackson triumphantly through every thing that 
he took the responsibility of doing, from the hanging of Am- 
brister and Arbuthnot, and laying a city under martial law, to 
the removal of the deposits, and making war on South Caro- 
lina. Mr. Van Buren had not gained the heart of the people ; 
and all his labor upon the financial affairs of the country was 
popularly called an impertinent " meddling with the cur- 
rency." 

This sub-treasury bill was proposed at the extra session of 



284 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the Congress of 1837, and tlien rejected; but, in 1839, it 
passed botli houses of Congress, and became a law. 

An insurrection in Canada began in the last of tlie same 
year that Van Buren Avas made President ; and as it was be- 
lieved that the ultimate purpose of it was to have Canada an- 
nexed to the United States, some Americans on the frontier 
took part in it ; on which Van Buren made a proclamation, 
saying that the United States should not protect any of its 
citizens in this intermeddling, which was liable to involve the 
United States in a war with Great Britain. During his ad- 
ministration, difficulties came to a crisis, also, on the North- 
eastern boundary, with respect to a tract of land which both 
nations claimed. The difficulty was appeased, for the time^ 
by the mediation of Gen. Scott, who was sent thither with 
some United States troops, but who did the thing peacefully, 
leaving it to be finally settled by diplomatic negociation. 
Meanwhile troubles were arising in the South-west, which did 
not come to a head until the term of Tyler. 

LESSON XXXV.— Van Buren. 

When did Martin Van Buren attain to office ? What was 
the state of the ccnntry ] What was his measure of remedy ? 
What was the immediate efPect ? What compromise was the 
government forced to make ? What has been the ultimate 
good effect of the sub-treasury and specie payment system ? 
Why did it raise a storm of opposition ? What was the date 
of this measure ? What do you remember about the Canada 
difficulties, and Van Buren's proclamation thereupon ? What, 
of the North-eastern boundary difficulty ? How are the sev- 
eral events of Jackson's and Van Buren's terms represented 
on the plate ? ('Teacher can look at the table, and name each 
one, asking. How is it represented?^ 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 285 



William Henry Harrison. 



An immense excitement on tlie Presidential election, pro- 
duced bj the dissatisfaction of the commercial community, 
brought an entire political change in 1841, and the Whigs 
carried the election of William Henry Harrison over Martin 
Van Buren. His military prestige and western residence 
were large elements of his success. But his term j)i'Oved 
short ; in one month he died, leaving the government to be 
directed by the Vice President, who was by no means identical 
with him in political sentiment, and had been put on the 
ticket with him, by way of conciliating the South, and Vir- 
ginia in particular. A complete change of the officials of the 
country had, however, already been made ; and Tyler did 
not altogether sweep these out, when he succeeded, although he 
leaned in the last part of his time, to the party of Abstrac- 
tionists and State sovereignty men — ^led by John C. Calhoun. 

John Tyler's Administration 

Was the most generally unpopular one, during the time of 
it, that has yet occurred in the United States History. For 
an extra session of Congress had been called by Harrison, 
which went into session under Tyler, in which was repealed 
the Sub-Treasury Bill, and a general bankrupt law was 
passed, which offended the Democrats ; but two separate bills 
were brought forward for chartering a new United States 
Bank, which were both rejected by the executive veto, on 
which all the cabinet resigned, except Daniel Webster ; and 
the Whigs throughout the country denounced him. 

One thing universally approved and rejoiced in, took place 
in Tyler's administration ; and that was the Ashburton treaty. 



286 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

negotiated by Mr. Webster, wliicli settled the north eastern 
boundarv definitely, as is indicated ontlie maps of the United 
States published since 1842. In the same year, Colonel 
Worth brought the Florida war to an end. 

But the great event of Tyler's administration, was the an- 
nexation of Texas. This requires some explanation. Texas 
has been called the Italy of America, so favored is its climate. 
It comprehends the country between the Sabine Eiver and 
the Eio del I^orte, otherwise called the Eio G-rande and Eio 
Bravo. 

Some questions arose in 1821, when Florida was ceded by 
Spain to the United States, as to the boundary line ; and 
something was said of the old boundary of Louisiana being 
the Eio Bravo. But the Sabine river was at length agreed 
upon, and Texas was acknowledged on all sides to be a part 
of Mexico, before the latter country declared itself independ- 
ent of Spain. 

Already, a colony of North Americans, led by Stephen F. 
Austin, had settled at a little more than a hundred miles from 
the mouth of the Eio Brazos. 

This foreign colonization of Texas was favored by Mexico, 
who wished to have her frontiers protected from the Caman- 
ches, and other warlike tribes of Indians, — to increase her 
national wealth by the industry and enterprise of North 
American settlers; and because she saw how the United 
States had prospered by favoring free immigration. But her 
colonization law of 1823, imposed certain conditions; first, 
limiting the number of immigrants to 300 families, who were 
to be Catholics from Louisiana, and who would have their 
children taught Spanish ; all traffic in slaves was forbidden ; 
and all slaves born in Texas were to be liberated at fourteen 
years of age ; and no slaves of any age were to be introduced 
into the colony after the year 1827. The inducements offered 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 287 

to colonists were security of person and property, and liberty 
to introduce, free of duty, their instruments of husbandry, 
utensils, and machinery, to the amount of 2000 dollars. 

In 1824, Mexico adopted a Federal Constitution, under 
which it was provided that for four years no taxes should be- 
imposed on foreign emigrants ; and for Texas and Ooahuila, 
the period of this privilege was afterward extended, while 
large bounties of land were granted to every emigrant, accord- 
ing to his occupation and wants. But these privileges were 
confined to such as should emigrate before 1840. The govern- 
ment was in very friendly relations with Austin, but in 1827, 
it sent a military force against one Edwards, who had received 
a grant near Nagadoches, and was speculating on it by sell- 
ing land to emigrants. Austin's colony joined the Mexicans 
in driving this Edwards from the country ; yet the Mexicans 
began, from this time, to suspect all the colonists of bad faith, 
and put garrisons in the country at Nagadoches, Bexar, Go- 
liad, Anahuac, Galveston, Velasco, St. Teran, Victoria, and 
Tenoxticlan. 

This was bad ; because Mexican soldiers are an especially 
demoralizing influence. The ostensible object of these gar- 
risons, was to protect the colonists from the Indians, and col- 
lect revenue ; but the real one was, to secure the power of 
the Mexican Government, which, in 1829, had declared all 
slaves throughout Mexico to be free ; an act that the Texan 
settlers considered to be an invasion of their reserved rights, 
and of which the Governor of Coahuila and Texas,obtained a 
revocation, from Guerrero, the President, so far as regarded 
Texas. 

In 1830, however, the Government passed a law prohibiting 
further immigrations from the United States into Mexico, on 
the ground that the North Americans violated the colonization 
laws of 1823 and 1824. 



288 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

The colonists denounced this law as outrageons, and, at- 
tempted to violate it, by introducing some new emigrants; 
their commissioner for this purpose was arrested by the mili- 
tary commander, and the election of another was prevented 
by military force ; also several Anglo-American colonists were 
arrested and imprisoned. On this, others assembled, and de- 
manded the freedom of their compatriots, when a military 
skirmish took place, the end of which was, that the Mexicans 
were obliged to yield up their prisoners. Soon after, the 
Texans took part in a civil commotion which occurred in 
Mexico, and proved themselves very formidable, and by a 
subsequent arrangement with the Liberal party, whom they 
aided to power, succeeded to free themselves from the oppres- 
sion of the military garrisons. This was in 1832. But in 
1834, Santa Anna usurped the Dictatorship of the Mexican 
E-epublic, paralyzed its State Constitutions, and established a 
central government. 

Texas made a protest against this despotic proceeding, and 
a convention having been called at San Felippe, and a State 
constitution drawn up, representing their reasons for wishing 
a separation from Ooahuila, and having laws of their own, 
Austin was appointed to go to Mexico as commissioner, and 
gain an acknowledgment of their rights to this State Consti- 
tution, on the ground of those guaranteed by the Mexican 
Constitution of 1824. He thought the time not well chosen ; 
but he went, and urged the admission of the Texan State 
Constituticm upon Mexico, saying that the evils of their 
want of an efficient administration of government were so 
great, that " if they were not remedied, the people of Texas 
would themselves seek a remedy." 

After ten months of vain negociation, he wrote back that 
the people of Texas had best make a State of them«elves de 
facto ; and this letter being treacherously sent to Mexico by 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 289 

the Ayuntamiento of Bexar, to whom it was addressed, Austin 
was pursued on his own way home, taken back to Mexico as a 
prisoner, and thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition, 
without books, pen, or paper. 

This act ultimately produced the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence in Texas, though Austin, from his prison, when he was 
able to write, recommended peace, knowing, as he did, that 
most of the quiet business people of Texas desired peace ; 
and because he thought that Santa Anna was their friend, and 
would remedy the evils they complained of, establish trial by 
jury, and give its own court to Texas. There was a strong 
peace party, but the land speculators made a war party; and 
the capture of a Texan trading vessel by Oapt. Thompson, of 
the Mexican navy, who had been ordered to Galveston merely 
to make some inquiries ; also a military requisition made for 
Zavala, a gentleman who had fled from Mexico to Texas, on 
account of his liberal principles ; and, finally, a Mexican order 
for the citizens of several Texan towns to deliver up their 
arms, kindled the war ; Gen. Austin meauM^hile having returned 
and become the centre of influence, on his giving his voice for 
war. 

Before December, 1835, volunteers having come from Geor- 
gia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana, to assist the Texans, 
who had appealed to their former countrymen for help, every 
Mexican soldier was driven beyond the Eio Grande. Then 
the Texan government was regularly organized, and instead 
of longer contending merely for their rights as a State of Mex- 
ico under the annihilated Constitution of 1824, a declaration 
of complete independence was formally made. 

Santa Anna immediately collected an army, and invaded 
Texas; and, after terrible losses at Alamo and Goliad, the 
Texans, under Gen. Houston, gained the decisive battle of 
San Jacinto, taking Santa Anna prisoner. 
13 



290 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTOEY 

Witli him, Gen. Houston, in the presence of the Mexican 
Secretaiy of War, made a treaty of peace ; Santa Anna, as 
Dictator of Mexico, acknowledging the independence of Texas. 
But as the Mexican government did not acknowledge the 
validity of a treaty made by Santa Anna w^hile a prisoner, the 
Texans were obliged still to maintain themselves by force of 
arms, in which they were assisted by volunteers from almost 
every part of the United States ; and the government sent an 
army to guard their frontier against the Indians, and, in 1837, 
acknowledged their independence. The Texans then applied, 
through Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State of the United States, 
for admission into the Union ; but Van Buren entirely dis- 
couraged it. This was not unknown to the people of the 
United States, and parties began to be formed on both sides 
of the question. The Southern States were favorable to it, as 
Texas could be made into several slave States ; and the argu- 
ment of the opposition to it may be found most ably stated in 
Dr. William Ellery Channing's letter to Henry Clay, on the 
annexation of Texas. The opposite sides of the slavery ques- 
tion characterized the two parties generally ; but even Mr. 
Clay opposed it in 1844, when Tyler induced a renewal of the 
application by Texas. He took the ground, not only that it 
would involve the United States in v/ar with Mexico, but that 
it was " compromising the national character," and would ex- 
tend the area of slavery, wJiicli he deprecated. 

Tyler, however, himself signed a treaty of annexation, and 
submitted it to Congress. It was rejected in 1844. But the 
next year a bill was passed, authorizing the President, under 
certain restrictions, to admit Texas into the Union. 

All parties looked upon this as a triumph of the slavery 
power, for the State Constitution of Texas not only admitted 
slavery, but prohibited that its abolition should ever be pro- 
posed in the Legislature. It was obliged, however, to guar- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 291 

antee that new States should be made out of its uninliabited 
territory, from which slavery might be excluded 



LESSON XXXYI.— Harrison and Tyler. 

What do yon remember of Harrison's election and admin- 
istration ? Was Tyler identical in politics with Harrison ? 
What was done in the extra session of the Congress of 1841 ? 
What was the consequence of his veto of the Bank ? What 
treaty made in his administration, was universally approved 
and rejoiced in? What was the great event of his admistra- 
tion? What had been the history of Texas between 1821 
and 1844 ? Where is Texas ? When did it become, as part 
of Mexico, independent of Spain ? What American carried 
the first colony there, and when ? Why did Mexico favor 
colonization by North Americans? What conditions did it 
impose ? What inducements did it offer ? What new favors 
were granted by Mexico, when it adopted the Federal Consti- 
tution ? What year was this ? To v/hat year were these 
privileges afterward extended ? When and why were Mex- 
ican garrisons afterAvards put into Texas ? What laws of 1829 
and 1830 provoked the Texans ? Why were these laws made ? 
What was done against these laws, and with what success ? 
Why did Texas make a protest against the Mexican govern- 
ment in 1834? Whom did they send as a commissioner, and 
what did they ask 1 What did he do ? How came he to be 
made a prisoner ? What advice did he give while in prison ? 
Who were for war ? Why ? What was their first success ? 
How was the war ended ? What treaty was made 1 Why 
was there more fighting ? Where did volunteers come from ? 
When did Texas apply for admission? What parties had 
arisen in the United States in anticipation of this 1 Why did 



292 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

the South favor annexation ? Who has written out the argu- 
ment of the Anti-Texan party ? What was Mr. Clay's opinion ? 
When was Texas admitted, and how was its admission re- 
garded by the parties in the United States 1 

[The details of the war of independence in Texas, do not 
properly belong to the United States History. They may be 
found in the " Revolution of Texas," published in 1838, by 
Rev. 0. Newell, whose sympathies are obviously all on the 
side of Texas, and who makes very light of the violation of 
the colonization laws of Mexico, under which the inhabitants 
first settled there ; although he admits that they took place. 
In this book can be found also the Constitution of the Pro- 
visional Government as well as of the State. Unquestionably 
it was a great advance of order for Texas to adopt United 
States laws and courts, in place of the Spanish.] 



James K. Polk's Administration. 

A strongly contested election, in 1845, placed James K. 
Polk in the Presidential chair. The Clay party attributed 
this to their loss of the abolitionist vote, which was given to 
James G. Birney, a lawyer of Michigan, who had formerly 
been a slaveholder, but, having been convinced that slavery 
was wrong, had liberated his slaves, and spent his whole for- 
tune in settling them free in the Northern States. 

The Oregon difficulties presented themselves for adjustment 
in the first year of Mr. Polk's administration ; the British 
Northwestern Fur Company claiming all the country north of 
the Oregon. This country was discovered by Sir Francis 
Drake in 1578, but not explored. In 1792, Eobert Gray, a 
Boston captain, had entered. the great river from the Pacific 
ocean, and named it Columbia. In 1805, Lewis and Clarke, 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 293 

the western explorers, under the patronage of Jefferson, hav- 
ing crossed the Rocky Mountains, entered the same river at 
its sources, and sailed down to the Pacific ocean. They pub- 
lished a charming account of this expedition. The next year, 
a New York fur trader, by the name of Astor, undertook to 
build a trading town on the Columbia, to be connected by 
trading posts along the Columbia and Missouri rivers, to St. 
Louis. Washington Irving, in his interesting book, entitled 
" Astoria," has given a brilliant account of the formation of 
the Pacific Fur Company in 1810; of the voyage of the ship 
Tonquin round Cape Horn, and the expedition across the 
Rocky Mountains to meet it, at the mouth of the Columbia, 
where Astoria was built in 1811. He describes the difficul- 
ties met with, and the final loss of the whole colony by the 
British Northwestern Fur Company's taking possession of it 
in the War of 1812. It reverted to the United States at the 
treaty of Ghent, which closed the war. But a compromise 
was made, and the fur traders of both nations were to frequent 
the country for a limited term of years, without settlement. 
Nevertheless, since 1830, the Americans had missionary sta- 
tions at Williamette, and other places. The Americans, 
in 1845, having explored and claimed the country as far as the 
54° of north latitude, while the British opposed the claim, 
General Cass and others made warm war speeches in Con- 
gress. But in 1846 the matter was adjusted by negotiation 
with Lord Aberdeen, and the northern boundary line was 
settled to be 49'^, Vancouver's Island being excepted. 

The annexation of Texas became, as Mr. Clay had antici- 
pated, a cause of war with Mexico. Texas claimed to the 
Rio Grande as its boundary, while Mexico asserted its right 
as far as to the river Neuces, founding it on an old Spanish 
claim against the French of Louisiana. The United States 
government consequently sent General Taylor with an army 



294 CHKONOLOGICAL HISTOKY 

to occupy the nortliern bank of the E-io Grande, and prevent 
any hostile demonstrations of Mexico within what was now 
claimed as United States territory. - 

But there were other causes of the war. The Mexican 
government, as well as individual Mexicans, had, in the course 
of twenty years, committed many outrages upon American 
traders. In 1837, ninety-five of these cases had been stated 
to the Mexican minister, and reparation required. Neverthe- 
less, the outrages continued, down to 1845, and contributed 
largely to feed a war spirit against the country. The South- 
ern States were also jealous of Mexico, because slaveholding 
had been abolished by its government, in obedience to the 
Pope of E/Ome ; and Mexico was likely to afford an easy place 
of refuge for fugitive slaves. The Mexican war consisted of 
a series of American victories, the military details of which 
can be read in the letter-press of George W. Kendall, written 
to illustrate a large volume of colored plates of the several bat- 
tles, which Major Scott declares to be correct — except that 
the picture dresses up the American soldiers more finely than 
they were dressed in reality; for there was little uniform upon 
the volunteers, who made rather a wild appearance. 

Hostilities were begun by the Mexicans, who fired upon Gen. 
Taylor at Palo Alto, as he was moving along the E,io Grande, 
with his " army of occupation," between Point Isabel and 
Port Brown. This army was fifteen hundred men, while the 
Mexican General Arista's was six thousand. The battle of 
Palo Alto lasted five hours, in which General Taylor con- 
quered, killing and wounding five hundred Mexicans. He 
gained another great victory over them the next day, at Hes- 
aca de la Palma, He then advanced into Mexico, and de- 
feated General Ampudia at Monterey, spending, however, sev- 
eral days in reducing the city, which was fiercely defended. 
Two months after, he advanced into the narrow mountain pass 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 295 

of Buena Vista, witli five thousand men, and fouglit a whole 
day with Santa Anna, who met him with twenty thousand 
men. This was his fourth victory. 

Meantime, in California, victories had been won by Com- 
modores Sloat and Stockton and Captain Fremont 

At the risk of seeming a little out of proportion, the particu- 
lars of this most extraordinary part of an extraordinary war 
will here be told. 

In January, 1846, Captain J. C. Fremont, who the year 
before had been ordered by the War Department to explore a 
southern route to Oregon, arrived upon the frontiers of Cali- 
fornia, with a party of engineers. Knowing that the relations 
between the United States and Mexico were in a delicate po- 
sition, and that the authorities of the latter were very jealous 
of Americans, he took the precaution to leave his party, and 
go alone to Monterey; where, with the United States consul 
Mr. Larkin, he called upon the commanding general, Castro, 
and made known to him his peaceful commission ; receiving 
express permission to winter in the valley of San Joachim, 
where was plenty of game, and no inhabitants to be disturbed. 
After recruiting his party, he proceeded onward, and, on the 
3d of March, encamped within fifty miles of Monterey, where, 
to his surprise, he received a peremptory order from Castro to 
leave the country at once. At first he took no notice of this 
order, as he had given no occasion for any hostile demonstra- 
tion ; but when he heard that General Castro was really in 
pursuit of him, he fortified his party with logs of wood, upon 
a high hill, and hoisted the United States flag ; and there, in 
a quietly brave attitude, virtually defied the Californians to 
do their v/^orst. From his camp he could see with his spyglass 
that an attack was in preparation, and he also received from 
Mr. Larkin a letter, telling him of Castro's orders to drive hira 
from the country. The messenger who carried back Fre- 



296 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

I 
mont's answer to Larkin (wliich was that he and his party 

should defend themselves to the last man) added, from his own 
suggestion, that *' two thousand men would not be able to 
drive Captain Fremont from his position." A similar impres- 
sion seems to have taken possession of Castro himself, for he 
he did not venture to attack him ; and, after three days' wait- 
ing. Captain Fremont left his little fort, and proceeded on his 
exploring expedition to Oregon. Castro followed afar off, but 
evidently did not dare to come up with him; and having picked 
up a few cast-away things left in the deserted log-fort, he re- 
turned to California, making a proclamation, full of falsehoods, 
declaring that he had driven away to Oregon this band of 
highway robbers ! 

In the following May, when Captain Fremont was en- 
camped on the Greater Tlamath lake, he was surprised at the 
arrival of two mounted men, who told him that Lieut. Gilles- 
pie, with letters for him, was some miles behind, beset by hos- 
tile Indians. Captain Fremont immediately broke up his 
camp and went back to his assistance, and met him after a 
day or two. Lieut. Gillespie delivered him a letter of simple 
introduction from Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, and fam- 
ily letters from Col. Benton. Under all the circumstances, he 
could not but understand that Lieut. Gillespie was accredited 
by Mr. Buchanan as an agent of the government, and this the 
gentleman himself affirmed, informing Captain Fremont that 
the government wished him to return to California, and ac- 
quaint himself with the disposition of the inhabitants, and the 
designs of the British upon the country ; and, if they were of 
a certain kind, to counteract them. On his return to Califor- 
nia, which was immediate, he found the valley of the Sacra- 
mento in the greatest excitement, for all the American set- 
tlers had been ordered out of the country, and were threatened 
with massacre, and the destruction of their crops. The ar- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 297 

rival of Captain Fremont inspired them with a hope of defend- 
ing themselves ; they expected every moment to be attacked 
hy the Indians, who had been excited against them ; and they 
besought him to take the direction of the defence. The danger 
of the American settlers was imminent, and their enemy was 
also his own. But he did not know that the Mexican war was 
begun. It was impossible for him to communicate Avith the 
authorities at home ; yet, unauthorized, he could not com- 
mit the United States government, by commencing hostilities 
in its name. But his heart bled for his distressed countrymen, 
and he made up his mind that, at all risks to himself, he must 
embrace their cause. He communicated his feelings to his 
party, who all joyfully acceded to his views; Lieut. Gillespie 
also. He then advised the Americans to raise the Bear flag 
at Sonoma (for they had no right to that of the United States), 
and under it the great battle of Sacramento was fought, and 
all the country north of the Bay of San Francisco was con- 
quered. Independence was formally declared, July 5th, 1846, 
and Captain Fremont, by the general voice, was put at the 
head of affairs. In the letter which he wrote to his father-in- 
law. Senator Benton, and which is in print, he expresses his 
confidence that the United States government would sanction 
his course ; but, if it should not, he was prepared to resign his 
commission. 

With one hundred and sixty riflemen, he now started from 
Sonoma, in search of Castro, who was entrenched south of the 
bay, at Santa Clara. On the 10th of July, being on his way, 
he learned that Commodore Sloat had taken possession of 
Monterey, on the 7th ; from which he thought war had begun 
between Mexico and the United States. He therefore imme- 
diately pulled down the Bear flag, and raised the stripes and 
stars. 

Commodore Sloat was acting under orders received the year 
13* 



298 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

before from the Navy Department, tlie Secretary (Bancroft) 
having directed tliat as soon as lie should know that war was 
declared against Mexico, he should take possession of Cali- 
fornia. Hearing of the exploits of Captain Fremont in the 
north, he supposed that he must be acting under orders from 
the government. This appears from his own letters to Capt. 
Montgomery, in which his expressed a hope that Fremont 
would approve of what they were about to do, and join them. 
Capt. Montgomery, at Sloat's order, took possession of Yerba 
Buena (now San Francisco), at once hoisting the United States 
flag, "without opposition, in the public sq^uare. Commodore Sloat, 
at the same time, wrote to Capt. Fremont, telling him what 
he had done, and requesting his cooperation ; in consequence 
of which, Capt. Fremont forthwith repaired to Monterey, and 
put himself and his riflemen under Sloat's command ; but told 
him, at the same time, that he had had no orders from Wash- 
ington, but had acted on his own responsibility. 

Commodore Sloat was ill (he had already asked leave of 
absence on that account), and he was worried by this commu- 
nication. He therefore very gladly resigned his command to 
Commodore Stockton, who arrived at this moment (July 23d) 
to relieve him. 

Commodore Stockton, finding the state of the affair, had no 
hesitation about continuing the conquest of California ; and to 
Commodore Sloat's proclamation, which had promised the 
conquered, under the protection of the United States, a bet- 
ter government than Mexico had ever given them, he added 
another, threatening war upon any who should molest Am- 
erican citizens. Capt. Fremont and Lieut. Gillespie were both, 
by their own appointments under government, independent 
of Com. Stockton, and Fremont, actually was, by the popular 
voice, at the head of affairs. But both of them, without hesi- 
tation, with their one hundred and sixty riflemen, put them- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 299 

selves under Stockton, and from this moment obeyed him im- 
plicitly ; having no other interest than that of the United 
States. The victory on the plains of Salinas soon followed. 

On the 25th of July, Capt. Fremont sailed from Monterey in 
the Cyane, in order to intercept the retreating general, Castro ; 
Castro and Governor Pico did not, however, dare to encoun- 
ter him, but fled across the desert to Sonora, more than two 
hundred miles ! Capt. Fremont and Commodore Stockton 
then joined their forces, and marched to Los Angelos, the 
capital of the Californias, and took possession of it, without 
opposition. On the 22d of August, California was in the un- 
disputed possession of the United States. 

Two days after (the 24th), Fremont was*appointed military 
commandant of the territory by Commodore Stockton, who 
charged him to enlist a sufficient force to garrison the country. 
On the 28th, he wrote to the government, as w^ell as to Major 
Fremont, that he intended to appoint him governor. This 
dispatch, with others, President Polk, in his annual message 
of 1846, laid before Congress, with these words : " Our squad- 
ron in the Pacific, with the cooperation of a gallant officer of 
the army,* and a small force hastily collected in that distant 
country, have accjuired bloodless possession of the Califor- 
nias." 

It is important to remark, that, two days after Commodore 
Sloat took possession of Monterey, the British admiral, Sey- 
mour, had arrived ; and, had he not found the United States 
flag flying at Monterey, he would have planted the British. 
Maj. Fremont found, in the archives of the government at Los 
Angelos, business papers, showing that the Missions had 
been hurriedly sold to British purchasers at the very time 
that he was fortifying himself at first ; and that an Irish 

** Meaning Col. Fremont. 



300 CHRONOLOGICxiL HISTORY 

priest (McXamara) was in treaty for the whole beautiful val- 
ley of Joachim, which was to be settled by an Irish colony, 
under British protection. These papers are all in print. As 
Com. Sloat had been determined to take Monterey, by hearing 
of Capt. Fremont's exploits, and Com. Stockton, when he ar- 
rived, was still ignorant of the beginning of the Mexican war, 
but acted on the success which had already been obtained, 
it is plain that Capt. Fremont was in every sense the person 
to whom the United States owes the possession of California, 
But all was not done yet, An insurrection broke out in the 
south of California, soon after Maj. Fremont left Los Angelos, 
the enemy all at once realizing that, in point of numbers, " a 
little one had chased a multitude !" Lieut. Gillespie, with his 
very small garrison, was then obliged to retire to Monterey ; 
and Major Fremont, instead of -being able to go to San Fran- 
cisco on the 24th of October, as Commodore Stockton ordered 
him to do, to be installed governor, went into the valley of 
the Sacramento to enlist an army to suppress the insurrection. 
At this moment Gen. Kearney arrived. This officer, on the 
breaking out of the Mexican war, had been ordered by the 
government to leave Fort Leavenworth, Avhere he was staT- 
tioned, and go and conquer New Mexico ; then to proceed to 
California, conquer it, organize a government for it, and him- 
self take the office of governor. He had bravely executed the 
first part of these instructions, and was proceeding to Califor- 
nia, when he met the celebrated trapper, Kit Carson, with the 
despatches from Commodore Stockton to the government, an- 
nouncing the conquest of California. He sent on his dispatches 
by another person, and retained Carson as a guide, on account 
of his experience in the Indian country. It was not until after 
the insurrection had broken out, that he arrived in California, 
when he encountered the enemy, flushed with their first suc- 
cess of driving Lieut. Gillespie from Los Angelos to Monterey. 



OF THE UKITED STATES. 801 

He had a battle with them at San Pasqual, in which eighteen 
of his men fell, and as many more were wounded. He then 
wrote to Commodore Stockton, that he was entrenched on a 
rocky eminence near San Pasqnal, surrounded by the enemy. 
Stockton sent Lieut. Gray, with two hundred and fifty men, 
to his relief; and, on their approach, the besiegers abandoned 
the field, and left the relief party to return, unmolested, with 
Gen. Kearney and his dragoons. Gen. Kearney then com- 
municated to Commodore Stockton his instructions from the 
government; but Commodore Stockton did not feel himself 
compelled to give up the chief command, especially as the 
spirit of the instructions seemed to be, that the conqueror of 
California should be its governor. Gen. Kearney did not in- 
sist, but placed himself under Stockton's command, and his 
dragoons helped to make up his force of six hundred men, 
who joined Fremont and entered Los Angelos, after the vic- 
tory of San Gabriel, and a still more remarkable one, on the 
plains of Meza, where the Americans, drawn up in a small 
square, phalanx-like, conquered the Spanish Californians, 
whose onset, however, with the finest cavalry in the world 
was very brilliant. 

With a small body of men. Major Fremont afterward em- 
barked, according to Commodore Stockton's orders, for Santa 
Barbara ; but on his way, hearing that in all South California 
only San Diego was left in the hands of the Americans, and 
that no horses could be procured there, he returned to Mon- 
terey, to mount his men and march overland. He arrived 
October 27th, and was agreeably surprised to learn that the 
President had appointed him Lieutenant-Colonel in the United 
States Army. It was unsolicited by him, or by any of his 
friends ; and it sanctioned all that he had done from the first. 
(He had done it with so little assurance of being approved by 
government — though he hoped that his country would bear 



802 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Lira out — that lie had sent to Col. Benton, with, the account of 
what he had done, a resignation of his commission, to be given 
in, if the government had disapproved.) 

In December, Col. Fremont, at the head of four hundred 
mounted men, commenced his march southward, and on his 
waj surprised and took possession of San Louis Ovispo, where 
he found Don Jesus Pico, who had been made prisoner on the 
plains of Salinas, but had broken his parole, and was at the 
head of the insurrection ! He was tried by a court martial, 
and condemned to death; but was pardoned by Col. Fremont, 
— a wise act, by which he was attached to the latter for ever 
after, in faithful service ; and the hearts of his friends, among 
whom was the governor, Pico, were won. Col. Fremont " be- 
ing satisfied," as he wrote to Senator Benton, in another 
private letter, " that it was a great national measure to 
unite California to the Union, as a sister State, by a volun- 
tary expression of the popular will," proceeded with great 
wisdom and forbearance, and marched all the way to Los An- 
gelos, four hundred miles, without spilling a drop of blood, 
but " conquering a peace," by clemency and justice. At Co- 
uenga he found the enemy in large force, and sent word to 
them to lay down their arms. They demanded a conference. 
In company with his new friend, Don Jesus Pico, he went to 
their camp alone, and found them ready to capitulate. Terms 
were agreed upon, that were subsequently sanctioned by 
Commodore Stockton ; and later, b}^ the United States. Am- 
ple testimony proves the popularity of Col. Fremont among 
the native, as well as American Californians, from this mo- 
ment,* 

* That they were all glad to be rid of the Mexican Government, can be 
easily imderstood by those who know the history of this country, from the 
time when Cortez first discovered it, in 1634. It had been first colonized 
by the Jesuits, svho had succeeded, as usual, in civilizing the Indians, and 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 803 

But tBe dispute concerning tlie chief command, between 
General Kearney and Commodore Stockton, produced difficul- 
ties. The day after Colonel Fremont was installed Governor, 
General Kearney and Commodore Stockton gave to him 
exactly contradictory orders respecting the organization of 
the California corps. It was an attempt on the part of Gen- 
eral Kearney, to try the question of relative power with Com- 
modore Stockton, and does not seem to have originated in any 
ill-will to Colonel Fremont ; General Kearney expressing to 
Colonel E-ussell, at the same date, that he should make Colo- 
nel Fremont governor, if he had the chief command. 

Col. Fremont replied to his order in writing, that if he 
and Commodore Stockton would agree between themselves 
which was the commander-in-chief, he would obey the supe- 
rior officer ; but until that matter was settled, which he had 
no power to decide, he felt himself obliged to continue to obey 
the commander under whom the whole w^ar had been con- 
ducted. 

Failing to obtain from Col. Fremont aid in his plan of 

who were succeeded, in 1765, by the Franciscan monks. But these missionary 
governors were despotic ; and when Mexico became independent of Spain, and 
subsequently republican, Echuandria had superseded the government of the 
monks altogether. But he himself governed with so much rapacity, that, in 
1837, it had become independent of Mexico, under Alvarado, but had re- 
turned again under the Mexican Government, in 1840. This history can be 
found in a book which nobody who has a literary reputation to defend would 
wish to recommend to the perusal of the young ( J. T. Farnham's Adven- 
tures in California). But iu the 4th and 5th chapters of it is a vivid picture 
of the outrages to which American and British people were subjected, under 
the abominable rule of the Spanish Californians ; involving an account of the 
aid given by some American settlers to Alvarado when he had been made in- 
dependent of Mexico ; together with the story of his ungrateful return. The 
strange, rhodomontade style of the book is also not unexpressive of much of 
the gpmt of Western adventure, which is settling the shores of the Pacific. 



804 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

putting Com. Stockton in tlie wrong, Kearney transferred his 
resentment to Col. Fremont. But this did not clearlj appear 
until after Col. Fremont had returned, in company with him, to 
Fort Leavenworth, when he ordered him to be arrested, and 
charged him with mutiny, disobedience to orders, and irregular 
conduct ! 

A court-martial was summoned, and before it, in his testi- 
m.ony, he attempted to fasten on Col. Fremont a dishonorable 
charge of corrupt motive. 

The defence of Col. Fremont is before the country. The 
documents, connected with the trial, are the only history of 
the war yet in print, and the above narrative is a meagre ab- 
stract of those papers. 

The court-martial convicted Col. Fremont of every charge 
made, and sentenced him to be dismissed the service ; but in 
consideration of his patriotic conduct and services, recommen- 
ded him to the lenient consideration of the executive. 

Mr. Polk signed the sentence, with the expression of an 
opinion, that, though Col. Fremont might be, according to 
strict military etiquette, technically guilty, he had deserved 
so well of his country, as to be entitled to reward, rather than 
punishment ; and tendered to him his sword, and -the high 
office which had already been conferred upon him. 

But Col. Fremont declined it, and returned to California, 
where he remained as a private citizen, until elected to the 
United States Senate, by an overwhelming vote of the new 
State of California. 

In the interval. Gen. Taylor had appointed him commis- 
sioner to run the boundary line between Mexico and Califor- 
nia, which he only held long enough to express his grateful 
appreciation of the feeling from which the appointment had 
been made. Gen. Taylor had not agreed with the sentence 
of the court-martial. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 805 

Unquestionably, both Ool. Fremont and Commodore Stock- 
ton were irregular in doing wliat ihej did, without knowing 
that war had commenced. But in spirit they were acting in 
obedience to the country, a part of which they were. It is 
only in the United States that such a thing could be done. It 
offended the army, but not the people ; and Polk, in his cour- 
tesy to the condemned officer, expressed the verdict of the 
heart of the country, upon the whole-hearted patriot. 

Ool. Fremont made no wild, marauding attempt for his own 
purposes ; but at the risk of everything to himself, took up 
the cause of his suffering countrymen, at a moment when the 
only alternative was to leave them to perish under causeless 
violence. It is absurd to name it in the same day with the 
fillibustering attempts which have been so rife since. 

We now return from this long digression to the victories by 
which G-en. Scott completed the conquest of Mexico, begun 
by Gen. Taylor. Feb. 22d, 1847, he invested the castle of 
San Juan de UUoa, and bombarded Vera Oruz, to hurry the 
surrender. He then started for the City of Mexico, and on 
his way gained the great victory of Cerro Gordo, in April. 
His advance was disputed with great spirit, in August, at Con- 
treras, and in September, at Churubusco, Molino del E,ey, ar*d 
Chapultepec — places in the immediate vicinity of the City of 
Mexico — at all of which Scott won great victories. The Mex- 
icans fought bravely in attack, and weye formidable with their 
cavalry ; but as soon as the battle came to the point of the 
bayonet, the physical force of the Americans was overpower- 
ing. On the 14th of September, Gen. Scott entered the City 
of Mexico, and planted the stars and stripes upon the ISTational 
Palace. Santa Anna had retreated, discouraged for the mo- 
ment, and left the Mexican Congress to treat for the peace 
which Gen. Scott had "conquered." But before he left, he 
seems to have organized a conspiracy to break out upon the 



806 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

Americans after the capitulation. Within the city, as with- 
out, however, the Americans fought like tigers, and gained 
the victory. 

It was on the 2nd of February, 1848, that the treaty of 
peace was finally signed at Guadaloupe Hidalgo. Upper Cal- 
ifornia, New Mexico, and Utah were added to the United 
States. But they professed to be unwilling to destroy the 
Mexican Eepublic, and agreed to give back the City of Mex- 
ico, and pay 15,000,000 of dollars for the territories ceded, 
and to undertake to pay to American citizens all their claims 
of indemnity, for the injuries inflicted on them by the Mex- 
icans, according to the statement formerly made to Mr. 
Forsyth. - 

In the year 1848, was also discovered the California gold, 
by James W. Marshall, who was working upon Sutter's mill. 
This discovery gave a vast impulse to the immigration into 
California, which had already commenced; and in the course 
of a single year the inhabitants of that territory began to 
make arrangements for a State government. 

LESSON XXXVII.— Polk 

What were the circumxstances of Polk's election ? What 
was the Oregon difficulty 1 What had been the history of 
Oregon ? How was it settled 1 What were the causes of the 
war with Mexico ? How did it begin ? What were General 
Taylor's victories? Who had conc[uered California mean- 
while ? Tell the whole story of Capt. Fremont's action be- 
tween January, 1846, and the 10th of July. Tell all that 
Commodore Sloat did, and why ? What did Commodore 
Stockton and Fremont do, that completed the conquest ? How 
did Polk announce it to Congress ? What proofs were there 
of a British occupation prevented ? What interrupted Fre- 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 807 

mont's installation as Governor, Oct. 25tli ? How came Gen. 
Kearney to arrive just now ? What occurred between him 
and Stockton ? What victories were then won ? How did 
Col. Fremont complete the suppression of the insurrection ? 
What difficulties between Kearney and Stockton involved 
Fremont ? What can you tell of his aiTCst, trial, sentence, 
and Polk's final award ? How did Scott complete the con- 
quest of Mexico ? What was the treaty of Guadaloupe Hi- 
dalgo ? Who discovered the California gold, and when, and 
where ? (Teacher must analyse the above questions.J 

Taylor's Administration. 

General Taylor came into the Presidential chair in 1849, 
less pledged to a party than any previous President since 
Washington, though he was the candidate of the Whigs. 
His Democratic opponent was General Cass ; another oppo- 
nent was Martin Van Buren, candidate of a new party, 
formed of the free-soil Whigs and free-soil Democrats, together 
with some of those who had voted in 1845 for Mr. Birney, the 
Abolitionist. General Taylor was a slaveholder, and yet was 
thought to be opposed to slavery extension. It was his mili- 
tary glory, however, and especially his success in promoting 
the conquest of Mexico, which gave him great popularity and 
power at the South, that ensured his election. He had abso- 
lutely declined giving any party pledges, or doing anything 
personally, to bring his election about. This helped his cause. 
TJnquestionahle disinterestedness is the surest passport with 
the electing people. It is to the honor of the inhabitants of 
the United States, that party leaders find the reputation of 
such a quality makes the most available candidate for the 
Presidential office. 

But President Taylor died in 1850 ; and here we close our 



808 CHEONOLOGICAL .HISTORY 

narrative — that year being an epoch in our history, by reason 
of the renewed agitation of the Slavery Question, which was 
produced by the circumstance of California's applying for ad- 
mission to the Union, without Slavery. 

A book intended for the public schools of all the United 
States, is not the place for discussions of a subject so vital to 
the interests of the Union as the Slavery question. Nothing, 
therefore, can be said here about the compromises of 1850, ex- 
cept to state them. The most striking thing done, was the 
passage of a Fugitive Slave Law, reviving the obsolete one 
of 1789, and making it very much more stringent. The terri- 
tories of Utah and New Mexico were constituted, without for- 
bidding slavery within their borders. The pro-slavery party 
gained so much. On the other hand, the domestic slave trade 
was prohibited in the District of Columbia, and California was 
admitted free. Both parties professed to believe that this 
would finally set at rest the Slavery question. 

LESSON XXXVIIL— Taylor. 

"When was General Taylor inaugurated President ? What 
party set him up ? Who was the Democratic opponent ? 
What other opponent had he ? How was Van Buren's party 
composed ? How was General Taylor upon Slavery ? What 
ensured his election ? Did he electioneer for himself? When 
did he die ? Why is this year an epoch ? What were the 
compromises of 1850 ? 

Exercise on the Table of the 18th Century. 

The teacher should take the table, and, naming each event 
separately, ask what year it occurred, and how it is repre- 
sented. Then reverse the exercise, and ask of each year 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 809 

what events happened in it. Then ask what Presidents were 
inaugurated, and the years. What States were admitted, and 
the years, &c., &c. A review of the chapters afterward, 
without reference to the questions, might be made; and a 
pupil selected by lot to tell the whole story, while the rest of 
the class watch, to criticise and correct. 

Chronological Table of the 18th Century. 

1801. Thomas Jefferson, third President U. S. A. (5.) 

1802. Ohio, 17th State, admitted to Union. (2) 

1803. Jefferson buys Louisiana. Difficulties with Tripoli. 

1804. Decatur's and Eaton's exploits in the Barbary States. 

(8.) Lear's treaty with Barbary Powers. (6.) Ham- 
ilton's death. (9.) 
1807. Foreign slave trade abolished. (6.) Burr's trial. (8.) 
1809. James Madison, fourth President of U. S. A. (5.) 

1811. Battle of Tippecanoe. Tecumseh's confederation. 

1812. War with England. (1.) Louisiana admitted. (2.) Bri- 

tish losses from the naval victories of Commodores 
Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, and the American 
privateers ; and the land victories of Colonels Wool, 
Brown, and Miller. (3.) Gen. Hull's surrender of 
Detroit. (6.) 

1813. Victories of Winchester, Croghan, Perry, Harrison, 

Scott, and Jackson by land ; and of Lawrence, Por- 
ter, Allen, and Burroughs by sea. (1.) Tecumseh 
killed. (9.) 

1814. Victories at Fort Erie, Chippeway, Lundy's Lane, 

Baltimore, Plattsburg, and in Florida. English 
capitulate at Ghent, notwithstanding their successes 
on the coast, burning of Washington, &c. (6.) 



310 CHEONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1815. Jackson' final victory at New Orleans. (1.) Decatur's 

victories at Algiers, (8.) and treaty. (3.) 

1816. Indiana, 19tli State, admitted. (2.) United States 

Bank rechartered. (6.) 

1817. James Monroe, fifth President ; Mississippi admitted ; 

first Seminole War begins. 

1818. Illinois, 21st State, admitted to Union. 

1819. Alabama, 22d State, admitted to Union. 

1820. Maine, 23d State, admitted to Union. 

1821. Missouri, 24tli State, admitted to Union. Compromise 

witli Slavery, violating ordinance of 1787. 

1824. Lafayette's visit. (8, blue.) Great Protective Tariff. 

1825. John Quincy Adams, sixth President. Creek difficulty. 

1826. Adams and Jefferson die, July 4th. (9.) 

1827. Anti-Masonry movement. (6.) Morgan's abduction. (9.) 

1829. Andrew Jackson, seventh President of U. S. A. 

1830. Treaty of United States with Turkey. 

1832. Blackhawk's War. Nullification in South Carolina. 

Jackson lays veto on the United States Bank. 

1833. Jackson removes deposits from U. S. Bank. 

1835. Jackson's proclamation against the French. Death of 

Lafayette. 

1836. Florida War begins with massacre of Dade's command. 

Michigan and Arkansas admitted to Unitm. 

1837. Martin Van Buren, eighth President. 

1838. Mormon War. Van Buren's proclamation about the 

Canada difficulties. 

1839. Difficulties on the frontiers of Maine and New Bruns- 

wick compromised for a time, by Scott, without a 
war. * 

1841. William H. Harrison, ninth President. He dies. John 
Tyler succeeds. 



OF THE UNITED STATES. 811 

1842. Dorr's insurrection in Ehode Island. (1.) Asliburton 
treaty. 

1844. Texas applies for admission ; not received till next 

year. 

1845. James K. Polk, eleventh President. Iowa and Florida 

admitted. Second Mormon War. 

1846. Oregon treaty. (6.) Mexican War, and Taylor's vic- 

tories : at Palo Alto, May Stli ; at E-esaca de la 
Palma, May 9tli ; Monterey, Sept. 23. Meanwhile, 
Fremont and Stockton conquer California; and Tam- 
pico is occupied Nov. 14tli. 

1847. Taylor's victory at Buena Vista, Feb. 22nd. Scott's 

victories : at Vera Cruz, Mrack Vtli ; Oerro Gordo, 
April IStli ; Contreras, August 20tli ; Molino del 
E,ey, Sept. Stli ; Chapultepec, Sept. 12tli ; and Mex- 
ico city capitulates, Sept. 14tli. 

1848. Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, Feb. 22nd. James 

Marshall discovers the gold in California, at Sutter's 
mill. 

1849. Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of U. S. A. 

1850. California, 31st State, admitted free. Domestic slave- 

trade abolished in District of Columbia. Stringent 
Fugitive Slave Law promulgated. 

Lesson of Eeview^. 

What was the order of settlement of the thirteen colonies, 
and the years of their settlement ? Then, what are the years 
of the admission of States of the Union since the Hevolution- 
ary war ? What is the order of Presidents, and the years of 
their inauguration ? E-epeat the years of the E,evolutionary 
war, and the events that characterize them. Repeat the years 
of the War of 1812, and the events that characterize them. 



812 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY. 

In what years broke out the five French wars, inclnding 
" Queen Anne's " and *' King William's ?" Tell the dates of 
Indian wars before the Eevolution; of Indian wars since the 
Revolution, &c., &c. 

Another very useful lesson would, be to give some dates of contemporary 
European history. This could be easily managed thus : Let the pupils copy 
the plates on a large scale, making the subdivisions into ninths with a lead 
pencil only, whose marks can be easily erased ; and then let the teacher 
indicate great events, such as the "League of Cambray," 1508; year of 
'German Protest," 1530; " Comicil of Trent," 1545; "Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew," 1572; years of the accession of kings; "Thirty Years' 
War," 1618 ; Peace of Westphalia, 1648, &c. Taking one century for a 
lesson, and indicating these dates, the events might be distributed to the 
individuals, or to divisions of the class, requiring them to seek out informa 
tion upon them, in encyclopedias and books of history, and bring interest 
ing narratives, either on paper, or to be recited viva voce. Teachers might 
also lecture on contemporary events, and indicate dates, to be written in 
the year squares, where nothing is painted. To aid them in preparing the 
lectm-es, recourse might be had, for the 16th century, to a small volume, 
compiled by the author of this book, from the history of Germany, Bohe- 
mia, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, and Hungary, called " Crimes 
of the House of Austria;" in which it is shown how all the above countries, 
except Switzerland and Holland, lost their constitutional liberties in that 
century. All Prescott's Histories illustrate this century also; and Schiller's 
" Revolt of the Netherlands;" and Motley's " Dutch Republic," just pub- 
lished ; and Zschokke's " History of Switzerland." For the 17th century, 
we have Schiller's " Thirty Years' War," and Macaulay's History, &c. 

But it would be much better for the class to study Bem's Charts of Uni- 
versal History, at once ; reproducing them according to the plan indicated in 
the Manual. In fact, while that v\^ould lay a broad foundation for the rich- 
est historical education, it is more suited to the youthful mind than the 
study of United States History — Ancient History being a narrative largely 
addressing the imagination, to which the Hebrew nation appears like a 
child led along by its Heavenly Guardian, from infancy to manhood, and 
disciplined ; while Greece and Rome are boys of different temperaments, 
with whose love of enjoyment and of dominion, boys of all ages sympathize. 
The kingdoms that rose out of the ruins of Rome have also much of the 
picturesque, with their ages of chivalry, &c. ; although the introduction of 
the principle of Christian life mingles a deeper element, and causes greater 
lights and shades, the nearer we arrive to the present day ; when, on the 
two sides of the Atlantic, the opposite experiments are being tried ; on one 
side, the struggle to establish the legitimate Despotism of the few — on the 
other, to develop Constitutional Liberty for all. 

N. B. — We intended to append to this work " An Appeal for Bem's Me- 
thod, applied to Universal History," published in the third number of The 
Nev/ York Journal of Education and College Review, and copied into some 
other periodicals ; but as there is no more room, we can only refer to it. 



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adapted to the use of advanced classes in aU Schools where there is a desire to take an ind« 
pendent course, and prove the scholars master of the subject. 

4^" Such & work has long been solicited by the most able and prominent Teacher* 
throughout the country. 

A whole volume of the most exalted recommendations of this series of Arithmetics, from 
the best Educators in all sections of the country, who have used themj can be showiL ThA 
following will bo sufficient for the present purpose. 

▲ 



Books Published hy Sheldon, Blakeman S^ Co. 

Ne-w York, April 3d, 1856. 
Messes. Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. : 

GenUemen. — We thank you for having called our attention to Professor Stoddard's 
Arithmetical Series. After examining the copies with which you furnished us in July 
last, we were very favorably impressed with their merits ; in view of which we introduced 
thetn as text-books in our Institution, at the commencement of our Fall session. The 
entire series is eminently practical. We are much pleased with the systematic arraii.ge- 
inent and classification of the subjects; the inductive method pursued ; and particularly 
the important principle so obviously adiiered to throughout, " of telling one thing at a 
time, and that In its proper place." " The American Intellectual Arithmetic" deserves 
special commendation. It is much more extended^ and much more systematically 
arranged, than any similar work extant; furnishing many original combinations and 
concise solutions ; and we think eminently adapted to the learner, whether a begin- 
ner, or one more advanced. Having carefully examined the standard works on the sub- 
ject, we have no hesitation in expressing adecided preference for Prof Stoddard's Series; 
which we earnestly commend to the attention of all who are engaged in conducting the 
education of youth. 

Eespectfully, THE MISSSS BUCKNALL, 

Principals of Gramercy Park Institute. 



" Several years ago, we were requested to recommend for adoption in a township in 
Ohio a series of text-books. This request coming both from the township Board and 
town Board, we felt iinder obligation to make a critical examination of the various text- 
books before the public. After a careful examination of about twenty different works 
on Arithmetic, we came to the conclusion that Stoddard's Series of Arithmetics was by 
far the best. After testing in the class-room the whole series, except the Juvenile Men- 
tal Arithmetic, and seeing that tested, we have no reason to change the opinion which we 
then formed. 

" Prof. Joseph Henet said, in his Introductory Discourse at the last meeting of the 
Am,erican Association for the Advancement of Education : ■ I cannot for a moment 
subscribe to the opinion which is sometimes advanced, that superficial men are best 
calculated to prepare popular works on any branch of knowledge. It is true that some 
persons have apparently the art of simplifying scientific principles ; but, in the great 
majority, this simplication consists in omitting all that is difiicult of comprehension.' 

" We heartily subscribe to this sentiment, and it was a belief in it that led us to adopt 
the above series of Arithmetics in preference to certain other popular ones, that furnish 
the student with but little that is calculated to call out his thinking powers. 

" We consider that the popularity of Stoddard's Series indicates a desire on the part of 
teachers for text-books written In a clear and vigorous style, which attempts to meet the 
usual difficulties of the subject by a vigorous discussion of them, instead of an entire 
omission. W. D. HENKLE, 

•' May 7th, 1856. Mathematical Editor of the Indiana Journal of EducaUon.''^ 



Having used Stoddard's Series of Arithmetics for the past year, as class-books, I have 
have no hesitation in calling it the best series of the kind now in use. 

The "Juvenile" is well calculated for beginners; and the student who masters the 
" Intellectual" must become a thinker. M. C. STEVENS, Peop. Math. 

Greenmount College, near Kichmond, Ind. 

May 7th, 1856. 



East Saginatt, Mich., 
Messes. Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. : January 8th, 1856. 

Gentlemen, — For accuracy of definition, and conciseness and clearness of rule and 
explanation, Stoddard excels anything I ever saw. I feel I cannot too highly commend 
his Arithmetics. 

I think, upon the whole, the series is as good as any, and vastly better than most now 
In use. We shall adopt them without doubt. 

Tours respectfully, A. S. BRIGHAM. 



Books Puhlished hy Sheldon, Blaheman 5f Co. 



TESTIMONIALS FROM THE STATE OF NETf YORK. 
NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS. 

I have examined with much pleasure a work entitled '• Stoddard's American Intellectual 
Arithmetic." It closely resembles in the nature of the exercises Colhurn's Mental Arith- 
metic, a work that has met with the unbounded approbation of the ablest teachers in the 
country I observe that Stoddard's contains many decided improvements on Colburn's ; it 
ia more systematic in its arrangement, passing from what is easy, more gradually to what 
is ditiicult ; some very important omissions are supplied, and very considerable additions 
in Interest, Dis«ount, Percentage, etc. I see that it is also adapted to Federal Money. 

It seems to me to be the best book on Intellectual Arithmetic now in use, and I hope for 
the good of education it will he used in every school where Arithmetic is taught. 

DAVID PATTERSON, M. D., 
Principal of Public School No. 3, and one of the Teachers of the Male Normal School 

New York, July 26, 1853. 

Concurred in by 

HENRY KIDDLE, Principal P. S. No. 2. P. D. DEMILT, Principal W. S. No. 34. 

H. FANNING, '< No. 13. N. P. BEERS, " No. 15. 

C. W. FEEKS, " No. 4. E. McELROY, " No. 32. 

A. MURPHY, " No. 17. SAilL. ST. JOHN, « No. 26. 



New York, July 13, 1853. 
After a careful examination of '* Stoddard's Practical Arithmetic, " I have no hesitation in 
pronouncing it a work of very superior merit. The brevity and clearness of its definitiona 
and rules, its lucid analy.sis of every operation, and the great variety of its examples com- 
pri.sing almost every possible combination of arithmetical principles, render it one of the best 
books to discipline the mind of the scholar, in mathematical reasoning, I have ever seen. 

HENRY KIDDLE, Prm. P. S. No. 2. 



I entirely concur with Mr. Kiddle In Ms opinion of " Stoddard's Practical Arithmetic." 

H. FANNING, 
Jtdy 15, 1853. Principal P. S. 13. 

I also concur with Mi. Kiddle in his opinion of " Stoddard's Arithmetic." 

DAVID PATTERSON, Prm, P. S. 3. 

I concur in the above. GEO. MOORE, W. S. 10. 

BROOKLYN SCHOOLS. 

Having submitted "Stoddard's Intellectual Arithmetic " to the practical test of the school 
room, we have no hesitation in expressing a strong preference for it over all Text-books on 
the subject. The author has taken a decided step in advance of those who have preceded 
him ; and his labors are likely to do much towards popularizing a study, the importance of 
which as a mental discipline can hardly be over-estimated. The works formerly in use were 
deficient of systematic arrangement, were neither gradual enough in their transitions, 
nor sufficiently comprehensive and varied as regards their examples. Stoddard's on the 
other hand, is an eminently practical book ; philosophical in its arrangement, natural and 
lucid in its anal^^sis, original in its design, adapted at the commencement to the compre- 
hension of beginners and carrying the pupil by easy inductive steps through the most com 
plicated operations : it seems invulnerable to criticism, and leaves little or nothing to b 
accomplished by future authors on this subject. The examples are numerous and varied, 
embracing all cases likely to arise in business ; and there are not less than fifty pages of 
questions capable of Algebraic solution. The Chapters on Percentage, Interest and Discount^ 
are worthy of special commendation. In these the author has an entirely original plan, 
which enables the pupil to solve mentally, with perfect ease, questions which, without this 
drilling, few are able to manage even on the slate. 

In view of these striking and excellent features, we warmly commend Prof. Stoddard's 
work to all who are interested in the education of youth. 

S. C. BARNES, Principal P. S. No. 4. GEO. H. STEBBINS, Principal P. S. No. 12. 

JOSIAH REEVE, " No. 8. F. D. CLARKE, *' No. 3. 

J. T. CONKLING, " No. 6. CHAS. H. OLIVER, ' No. 11. 

DAVID SYMK, «' No. 6. PETER ROUGET, " »o. 10. 

A. B. CLARKE. N«, 13. E. C. SEYMOUR, " No. t. 

B 



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WEBB'S SERIES OF NORMAL READERS. 

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PRIMARY LESSONS, a Series of Cards to be used in connection with 

No. 1. Price one dollar per set. 

NORMAL READER, No. 1. 12mo. 90 pp. 12i cents. 
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NORMAL READER, No. 5. 12mo. 490 pp. 75 cents. 

These Readers are used in the principal cities and Tillages throughout the United States, 
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METHOD ; but also in the high moral tone and inspiriting character of the pieces selected. 
The author, Mr. Webb, was recently from the State Normal School, at Albany. 

They are the best Practical Readers that have come under my notice ; they are all and 
EVERT TfflNG they should be. Hon. S. S. RANDALL, Deputy Stale Supt. Com. Schools. 

Webb's Readers are the best books of their kind for our schools. 

D. M. CAMP, Ex- Governor of Vermont. 

I am happy to command Webb's Readers to the favorable regard of all Educators. 

J. R. BOYD, Author of Rhetoric^ Moral Philosophy, he. 

"We have used " Webb's Normal Readers," tod beheve them superior to any with which 
we are acq^uainted, and would cheerfully recommend their general adoption to all of our 
ichools. ROSMAN INGALLS and E. S. INGALLS. Teachers of SeUct School. 

Having examined "Webb's Normal Readers," we believe them to possess many advanta- 
ges over any other series of Readers which has come under our notice, and would therefore 
recommend their introduction into the schools of Binghampton. 

A. D. STOCKWELL, A. W. JACKSON, Trustees of District No. 2. 

GEORGE PARK, R. S. BARTLETT, Trustees of Dislrid No. 1. 

T. R. MORGAN, WM. E. ABBOTT, Trustees of District No. 4. 

Dear Su-— I have examined " Webb's Normal Readers," and consider the system superior 
to any now in use. Respectfully yours, H: G. PRINDLE, 

Town Supt. Common Schools, Norwich. 

Sir— I have examined, with considerable care " Webb's Series of Readers," and can cheer- 
felly recommend them, as in my opinion, superior to any others with which I am acquainted. 
Yours, &c., MARSENA STONE, Fasto)' Baptist Church, Norwich. 

At a meeting of the Town Superintendents of the County of Chenango, held in the village 
of Norwich, on the 16th of August, the following Resolution was adopted : — 

Resolved, That we consider the uniformity of text books a matter of infinite importance to 
©ur common schools ; and believing " Webb's Normal Readers," to be superior in many re- 
spects to any extant, for teaching the principles of reading and instilling sound moral prin- 
eiples in the mind of the scholars, we therefore recommend their general adoptioa in the 
BCkools of the county. 

FEOM THE CITY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, UTICA, N. Y. 

Dear Sir— Having somewhat carefully examined "Webb's Normal Readers, " I have no 
hesitation in saying I consider them to rank high among the best Practical Readers that 
have come under my notice. We have lately introduced two numbers into some o' ©ur 
public schoola of this dty, which have thus far given good satisfaotion D. S. HEIFFRON. 

C 



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LOOMIS' ELEMENTS OF ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY AND HY- 

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This is a new work, beautifully Iixtjstrated with Colored Plahs, and many Obiginai 
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the pupil may see tho relation they bear to each other, and to the industrial affairs of 
mankind. The author has communicated with a great number of experienced teachers, 
respecting the defects of our present books, and the manner in which the subject should 
be treated to meet their approbation. Profiting by the sugestions thus obtained, as well 
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upon another; Virginia, a different and smaller one still; Georgia, Florida, etc., upon 
another ; and so throughout the hook — no two maps being upon exactly the same scale. 
As a consequence, correct ideas of the size and area of States and Countries cannot be 
obtained, except by calculations too difficult for the class of students using these books. 
In the maps of this series, one inch is made the standard of comparison, and, whenever 
practicable, this is made to represent one hundred miles. In view of this arrangement, 
by the natural comparisons of the eye alone, more permanent and correct ideas of the size 
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mind, than by elaborate statistical details. These maps have all been constructed ex- 
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OUTLIKES OF PHYSICAL GEOGKAPHY. 

This is the first attempt ever made in this country to embody in a separate treatise the 
more important facts of Physical Geography in a form adapted to the school-room. The 
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with as much simplicity as possible: 

The Lakd — Its Extent and Distribution; Continents; Islands; Volcanic Islands; 
Coral Islands ; Mountains ; Mountain Systems of the Eastern and Western Continents ; 
Upland Plains or Table Lands; Lowland Plains: Glaciers; Snow Mountains and Aval 
lanches ; Volcanoes ; Volcanic Eegions : Vesuvius ; Etna ; Earthquakes. 

The "Water. — Chemical Composition of Water ; Mineral Springs; Cataracts; Deltas, 
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The Atmospheee. — Composition of the Air — its Properties , Winds ; Variable Winds ; 
Permanent Winds; Trade Winds; Periodical Winds ; Monsoons; Hurricanes; Moisture; 
Clouds; Eain; Snow and HaU; Climate; Causes which determine Climate; Isothermal 
Lines. 

Oeganic Existence. — Plants — Divisions of the Vegetable Kingdoms — Distribution of 
Plants — Food P'ants; Animals — their Classification; Distribution of Animals ; Zoological 
Eegions ; Man — Eaces of Men. 

The maps (six in number) have been prepared with great care, and are beautifully 
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A NEW SCHOOL HISTOEY. 

A CHRONOLOGICAL SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE UNITED 

STATES, illustrated by painted Plates of the four last Centuries, prepared on the prin- 
ciple of Bem's Chaet of Untsteesal Histoby, by Miss Elizabeth P. Peabodt. 1 voL 
12mo. Price 

The publishers -would invite the attention of all wishing to commence classes in the 
history of the tlnited States, to the following flattering commendation, given after having 
read the work in manuscript, by Prof J. H. EAYMOND, LL.D., late of the Univeesity 
OF EocHESTEE, and now Principal of the Polytechnic School, Beooklyn. 

" It affords me peculiar satisfaction to learn that Miss Peabody has undertaken to pre- 
pare a work on the history of the United States for the use of schools. I certainly know 
of none who combines in such large measure, the rare talents and acquirements, both 
natural and moral, which such an undertaking requires. The chronological method of 
Bem, which she incorporates in her plan, I have long regarded as OUT OF SIGHT 
SUPERIOR to any other sohe/me of Gkronologieal MnemonicH ever invented. I think 
you cannot do a better thing for schools— I should also hope for yourselves — than to put 
it in type." 

The venerable Dr. I!TOTT, of Unioji College, having also examined the manuscript, 
and expressed his cordial approbation of the history, adds, — " The plan of this work is 
calculated to excite and sustain the imagination, not merely by appealing to the eye, in 
impressing its chronology, but also by a graphic outline of the history of each Colony, 
and of the Federal Union, in such a manner as to preserve their respective individuali- 
ties and peculiar spirit." 

We are also prepared tofurmsh 

BEM'S CHARTS OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY, with the Manual pre- 
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And we have in our possession, manuscript letters in testimony of its value, from 

Dr. NOTT, and Professors Ne-^man Hicock and Tayxoe Lewis, of Union College 
Prof. Raymond, late of the Rochester University, Professors Andeews and Kingsley, 
of Marietta College, Prof. Geegoey, of Detroit, now editor of the Michigan Journal of 
Ed/ucation, Rev. Eban S. Steaens, late Principal of the Normal School at West Newton, 
Mass., Rev. F. A. Adams, of Orange, N. J., Prof Burton, then of Girard College, Mr. 
Alonzo Crittenden, of Packer Institute, Brooklyn, Dr. Isaac Ferris. Chancellor of the 
University of New York, Dr. J. Romayn Beck, late of Albany, Dr. W. B. Sprague, of 
Albany, and many others who have used it, especially ladies of the first class of teachers. 

HISTORICAL & CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES : for use in Elementary 
Instruction in HISTORY, By Dr. Chaeles Peteb, Director of the Gymnasium in 
Auckland. Translated from the German (3d Ed.). 

Prefatory Note, 

It would be diflS-cult to compress within a smaller space and in a more convenient form, 
the amount of historical information that is comprised in the following pages. They are 
prepared by a distinguished German scholar, who has great experience in the preparation 
of larger and smaller works for Schools on history. This little manual is translated in 
the hope and belief that it will prove extensively useful as an outline and resume of his- 
torical facts in their chronological connections, in both higher and lower seminaries of 
instruction in America, and also an excellent companion to private students in history. 

A. C. KENDEICK, 

Univebsity of Eoohestee. 



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Use of Schools. In Five Books, consisting of an elementary, ai d No. 1, for Beginners ; 
No. 2, for Boys ; No. 3, for Girls ; and No. 4, Course Hand, each 12^ cents. 

These Copies are all Lithographed, and not Stereotyped lite most other Copy-books in 
use, and thus like the Daguerreotype of the f&ce, an exact copy of the original is taken. 
But in Stereotyping the hair stroke cannot be copied. 

COLT'S SCIENCE OP DOUBLE-ENTRY BOOK-KEEPING-, Simpli- 
fied, Arranged, and Methodised after the forms of Grammar and Arithmetic ; explained 
by different rules, and illustrated by entries classed, in a manner materially different 
from any work ever before offered to the public. Containing also a KEY, explaining the 
manner of Journalizing, and the nature of the business transactions of each of the Day- 
Book entries, together with practical forms for keeping books, as circumstances may re- 
quire in different commercial houses. By JoHS C. Colt. School Edition, price $1 00. 
Teachers' and Qerks' Edition, $1 50. 

J. C. Colt, Esq., Albany. 

Sir — Having been presented with a copy of your Treatise on Book-Keeping, — with a request 
that I would examine it, and give an expression as to its merits, — I have examined the work, 
and every pag^ has afforded new evidence that it is the work which is to fill a void in the 
public schools of our country, hitherto left blank, more for the want of a proper text-book, than 
any other cause. With your book the study may be prosecuted in all our schools, with as 
much confidence and success, as the study of arithmetic, grammar, or any ordinary study, 
— and with httle additional labor to the teacher. I shall use the work in my school. 

KespectfuUy yours, J. W. BULKLEY. 

Equally flattering and complimentary recommendations as the preceding, have been 
received from the foUowing gentlemen : — 

Gazzam & Bdtijjr, Merchants, Cincinnati, Ohio. Wm. Jennet, Principal Dutchess Co, Academy, 
Delafield & BuRNra-, Bankers, " " Poughkeepsie, New Youk. 

H.VRTWELL, Lawrence & Co., Merchants, " J. Grant, Esq., Cashier Farmers' and Manufae- 

A. H. Wheeler, Teacher of Book-Keeping, 251 turers' Bank. Poughkeepsie, New York. 

Broadwa}^, New York. E. B. Brigamin, Esq., Cashier Bank of Pough- 

Wm. Hiller, Teacher, 126 Allen Street, N, Y. keepsie, New York. 

James Lawson, Teacher, New York. F. S. Pease, Esq., Book-Keeper Commercial 

E. B. Tanner, " " Bank, Albany, New York. 

Henry Swords, " " Carlo Green, Principal of a Select School, 

J. Taft, Principal of Halcyon Seminary, N. Y. Hudson, New York. 

B. FowxER, Teacher, New York. A. B. McDonal, Teacher of Book-Keeping, Al- 
N. Mo WRY, " " bany Academy, Albany, New York. 
John Oaklet, " " Joel Marble, Teacher State St. Public, Albany 
E. F. Mitchell, << <' ^ New York. 

J. Healy, " " Wm. H. Hughes, Teacher of Book-Keeping^ 

W. Marsh, " " Albany, New York. 

Robert Smitharst, Accountant, Philadelphia. George W. Franqs, Teacher of a Select School, 
John G. Pearson, " " Troy, New York. 

J. L. Orcctt, Teacher of Book-Keeping, " JAiiES Park, Teacher, and Secretary of the Troy 
Edward Knowlton, " " South work, " Teachers' Society, Troy New York. 

Wm. B. Wedgwood, A. M. Teacher of Poagh- Joseph Cailds, Jr., Teacher, Fifth Street, Txf^ 
k««psie Classical School, New York. Ne« T^rk 

P 



Books Published by SheldoTiy Blakeman ^ Co. 



MUSIC BOOKS. 

THE LADIES' GLEE BOOK; A Collection of choice and beautiful 

Glees, f:r Three Female Voices, in English^ French and Italian. Designed for the use of 
Oasses, School Exhibitions, an' to add to the pleasures of the Home Cirele. An extra 
part is added, which may be sung by a baritone or tenor vpice, when the third female 
voice cannot be procured. Translated, adapted, arranged and composed, with an accom- 
paniment on the Piano Forte, by Henry C. Watson. Quarto, 112 pp. Price half-bound 
$1 00, cloth $1 50, 
I cordially recommend the work to my friends and the public. "W. V. WALLACE. 

I wish the " Ladies' Glee Book " every success, feeling assured that its merits, its beauty, 
and its usefulness, wiU cause it to be generally used and extensively circulated. 

MAURICE STPvAKOSCH. 

As soon as the "Ladies' Glee Book " is known, it will, in my opinion, find its way into 
tvery drawing-room. Mrs. EDWARD LODER. 

I recommend the work to my friends with great pleasure. MAX MARETZEK. 

I believe the " Ladies' Glee Book " will be generally adopted in the Ladies' Schools and 
Institutes, and also in private circles.- E. WALLACE BOUCHELLE. 

THE MILLIONS' GLEE BOOK, OR NEW YORK MELODEON; 

Consisting of a choice selection of Glees, Quartettes, Ihiets, Songs and Ballads, many of 
which have never before been published in this country. By I, B. Woodbury, author of 
the " Dulcimer " and other Musical Works. Price 50 cents. 

THE NEW YORK NORMAL SCHOOL SONG BOOK, containing a 

New Oratorio, founded on incidents of the American Revolution, with original words ; 
also, a great variety of Miscellaneous Music, both Secular and Sacred, with new instruc- 
tions, adapted to the use of Public Schools, Singing Schools, and the Social Circle. By L. 
A. Benjamin and I. B. Woodbury. Price 38 cents. 

THE CRYSTAL PALACE AND FLORAL QUEEN: Containing a 

New Oratorio of the Crystal Palace, or the Spirit of the World's Fair; also, a Grand Coro- 
nation Festival, The Village Queen, and a variety of Miscellaneous Music, Sacred and 
Secular, adapted to Public Schools, the Concert-room, and the Social Circle. By L. A. 
Benjamin. Price 38 cents. 

THE INSTRUMENTAL PRECEPTOR ; Designed for the Yiolin, Bass- 
viol, Flute, Clarionette, Bugle and Trombone, together with the greatest collection of 
Martial Music now in modern practice, consisting of a ^eat variety of Band Music, Duets 
and Waltzes, carefully sel&cted and prepared, by WilliaM L. Bales. Price 75 cents, 

THE SABBATH SCHOOL MINSTREL ; A Choice Collection of Music 

and Hymns, bj a Sabbath School Teacher. Price 75 cents per dozen. 
This book has been exceedingly popular, over 100,000 copies having been sold. The 
cllection of Music and Hymns embraced in the following pages has been made with espe' 
cial reference to the wants of the Sabbath School. The style of the music is simplp and 
devotional ; and while it will gratify those somewhat advanced in the science, it may be 
learned with facility by even the youngest scholar. The object has been to introduce aa 
large a number of appropriate Hymns as possible, varying in length and in measure, aai 
all adapted to the exercises of the Sabbath School, its anniversaries, celebrations, &6. 

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